Dance of the Fox
by gintaro
Summary: (Slight AU) Tension in Makai is high and the three kings are close to war. With the inevitable conflict up ahead, the Kings and their seconds are strategically positioning themselves for the best possible outcome. But...why is there a sly fox lurking about? Many implied pairings. Kurama gets around. Shounen Ai in later chapters. Now Complete!
1. Chapter 1

****Standard disclaimers apply. **First chapter has no dialogue. I need to set the stage first.**

Hiei grunted while shifting his weight to his other leg. With a big scowl on his face, he leaned his back against the wall and crossed his arms, not caring to hide his agitation. His meeting with Mukuro was supposed to start over an hour ago. Employer or not, how dare the woman make him wait.

It was unlike the demon king of Alaric to be late for their bi-weekly meeting, a quick 15 minute update on the troops. As one of Mukuro's generals, it was Hiei's duty to maintain the physique of his troops so that they are ready at a moment's notice. Especially since tensions have been high in Makai.

The three demon Kings have long had disagreements over Makai policies towards the human realm. King Yomi of Gandara, a region known for its scientific studies and technological advances, maintains that Makai should be allowed to use ningen resources at will - whether it be for food, or for research purposes. King Raizen of Tourin, on the other hand, is known for his compassion for humans. He's been vocal about ending all experiments on humans as well as ending the practice of eating humans. As noble as that may sound, Hiei wonders if Raizen's true intent is financial gain. It is probably not a coincidence that Tourin is the bread basket of Makai. If humans ceased to be a source of food for demons, Tourin would become Makai's main food supplier.

In truth, Hiei has no interest in politics. He stands by his King's view that the human realm should be left to its own devices. There is no pressing need to change the existing policies.

So far, the difference in opinion have not resulted in an all out conflict. It is clear that Alaric has the strongest army of them all, and it would not do the other territories any good to start a war. For that reason, Alaric have become the wild card in this cold war, and both Yomi and Raizen had been actively trying to sway Mukuro's opinion. The whole affair has been highly entertaining to watch because Mukuro, Hiei reflected with amusement, simply did not care. In fact, she has been careful to not offend either Kings, while secretly plundering their treasures and taking advantage of the situation to increase her influence over Makai. Thus, Makai was able to retain the semblance of peace.

However, given King Raizen's recent death and the succession of his half-ningen son, Yusuke, the situation had once again become unpredictable. That's because Yusuke is a reckless fool.

In a show of goodwill, Mukuro and her generals had attended the half-ningen's solemn crowning ceremony. Hoping to gather more intelligence on this new king, they had stayed for the celebration banquet, where Yusuke promptly casted off his somber demeanour, and challenged Mukuru, the guest of honor, to a drinking contest. After it became clear that the half-human was no match for Mukuru, he treated his guests to what he called a "strip tease" and started grinding against his red-headed advisor. Half way through the "show", after he had awkwardly removed half of his formal regalia, he lost control of his ki and blasted off the banquet hall's ceiling, and finally ended the celebration by passing out cold from all the Makai liqueur he consumed. Not surprisingly, Mukuro and Hiei were unable to gather any useful intelligence other than the fact that in addition to Raizen's original advisors, Yusuke had gain two human advisers of insignificant power. At least Mukuro had been highly amused by Yusuke's antics.

Hiei, on the other hand, had mixed feelings about the Yusuke. He felt disgusted by the new king's lack of control. How can a ruler expect to lead a country if he has no control over his own behavior and ki? Even as a normal demon, that behavior is disgraceful. Yet, he had to admit that he was slightly impressed by Yusuke's raw power. Power, after all, is one of the few things that Hiei truly respects.

It is the main reason he works for Mukuro.

He doesn't care for the financial gains and stability that his position as a general affords him. He has no need of fancy living quarters and endless servants. He cares little for his troops and the progress they've made with his training. He hardly cares that he is the head of Makai's toughest army.

What he does care about, however, is Mukuro's power and the fact that she is stronger than him as a warrior. He had challenged, fought, and lost to Mukuro over 50 years ago. Back then, he had had trouble swallowing the humiliation of losing to a woman, since the only women he'd been previously aware of are of the fragile koorime race. Yet he had taken on Mukuro's offer to train her troops because it came with the open invitation that he can fight her whenever he wishes.

He was naive back then and had not realize the gap in their powers. For he had fought her numerous times since then and still had not managed to win, even though his power had grown exponentially since their first duel. Every time he lost though, Mukuro would send him to a healing tank and repair any physical damage she'd caused. While Hiei would not have any regrets dying by the hand of a stronger opponent, especially one that he holds in high esteem, he relishes the chance to fight her again. Though, Hiei sometimes wonder what Mukuro sees in him and why she keeps reviving him. He was the _forbidden child_, after all.

To be sure, their power levels are getting close now, and Hiei knows that he will soon be able to beat her, though they haven't had the opportunity to spar for a while.

Mukuro have been distracted ever since their return from Tourin and the usually disciplined ruler had not come to inspect her troops for over two weeks now. He had overheard the servants chattering about a love interest. Apparently, a maid had caught a glimpse of a handsome stranger in Mukuro's private quarters. Then he had overheard his troops discussing Hiei's rumored jealousy of Mukuro's new "pet". Worst of all, some of his loyal servants and troops had started rallying behind him as Team Hiei, while others have rallied behind Team Hot Stranger and have started distributing badges to show their allegiance. Hiei could not believe how seriously they were taking these baseless rumors! The King's personal life was nobody's business, and neither was his, so Hiei had made it clear that any more mindless gossip on the topic would result in a blade through the stomach. He further emphasized his point by beheading the distributors of the Team Hiei and Team Hot Stranger badges.

The gossiping ended abruptly after that.


	2. Chapter 2

**Standard Disclaimers Apply - This chapter - implied Mukuro x Kurama**

Hiei raised his arms to stretch his back. An hour and a half have passed since the appointed time of his meeting with Mukuro. The jaganshi was about to leave his King's empty office when the door violently swung open. Shocked that he didn't feel the intruder's ki, Hiei unsheathed his sword and readied himself in a swordsman's stance. In strolled a laughing Mukuro, whose right arm - a mechanical arm - was wrapped possessively around the waist of a youko. At over seven feet tall, the towering creature had his left arm draped across Mukuro's shoulder.

"Ah Hiei, there you are," Mukuro cast him a quick glance before turning back to the silver youko in her arms. Hiei relaxed his stance but kept his blade out.

"You're late, woman," said Hiei as he stepped forward from the shadows and regarded her King and the outsider with cold eyes. The youko met his gaze. Until now, no one in Alaric, except Mukuro and the other generals have dare look at him squarely in the eyes. Yet this creature was not merely looking, in fact, this creature seemed to be ogling him from head to toe. How insolent! With a smirk on his face, the youko winked at Hiei and flicked his tail in a display of mock playfulness.

Mukuro had made him wait for an hour and a half while she was occupied by this...this….tramp?! "Who is this?"

"Forgive me, General Hiei, how could I have forgotten my manners?" the youko interjected with a twinkle in his golden eyes. "Youko Kurama, at your service." He bowed deeply.

Hiei froze. This creature is Youko Kurama, the legendary king of thieves? He had disappeared from Makai twenty years ago, only to reappear as Yomi's advisor two years ago. Hiei had expected the demon to be bulkier and more muscular - the epitome of masculine power. Instead, the youko before him is slender and tall, with pale skin and long silver hair reaching past his waist. Hair that Mukuro have playfully twirled around her fingers.

Ignoring the insolent tramp, Hiei scowled at his King, "Woman, what is the meaning of this?"

"My, my, you're in a delightful mood today," teased Mukuro, finally releasing her grip around the youko's waist. Stepping forward towards Hiei, she said, "I didn't think it was possible for you to grow any sourer."

"Hn." Hiei continued to frown.

"Not in the mood for jokes, I see," Mukuro rolled her eyes. "Let's get to the point then - I am here to name you as my heir."

Hiei's eyes widened at the casual announcement, and then returned to its usual glare. The extra training she had given him, the healing after each of their fights, the time they have spent discussing strategy - Mukuro had been grooming him for succession all along. Realizing that Mukuro had recognized him as an equal, Hiei allowed himself to feel warm inside for a short moment before his attention quickly snapped back to a more serious matter at hand. "Shouldn't such matters be discussed away from the prying ears of our enemy?" He gestured to Kurama.

"Him?" Mukuro tilted her head backwards to where the youko is standing. "Youko Kurama is no enemy of ours."

"He works for Yomi!"

Mukuro replied in a deadpan tone, "As far as I know, we have no open conflicts with Yomi and Gandara. Unless you have started a war without my knowledge, Gandara is not our enemy. Besides, Kurama is here on personal business." She said her last sentence with just a hint of a smile and flicker of mirth in her good eye.

"What kind of personal business?"

"Need I spell it out for you?" Mukuro looked a little exasperated. "We've been….let me think of a term you can relate to….sparring. Yes, sparring! Both in the training fields and in my sleeping quarters. Do you understand?"

"Hn." So_ some_ of the rumors are true then. While the personal life of his King was really none of his business, Hiei wondered if it was a good idea for Mukuro to entangle herself with the infamously sly fox. Was he a spy? Hiei dismissed the thought. That would be much too obvious. Besides, Mukuro had given Yomi no reasons to be suspicious. She'd been very open about her political stance. She'd even taken the courtesy to inform Yomi of her trip to Tourin for Yusuke's crowning ceremony. Besides, if the youko did turn out to be a spy, Hiei could just cut him down.

Hiei returned his focus to the true intent of this meeting. "Five soldiers have reached Class A since our last update. I've promoted them to captains. Recruitment has been steady with demons from both Tourin and Gandara joining our forces, indicating that the Makai commoners have the most faith in our army. End of report." With that, Hiei turned to leave.

"Not so fast," Mukuro called out behind him. "Do you accept my offer?"

Hiei turned, "I don't have a choice." It was a statement, not an accusation.

Mukuro smiled and shouted after him, "I expect you to be on your best behavior at tonight's announcement banquet."

* * *

Hiei doesn't understand why the hell the fox is sitting at the head table. No, not only was he at the head table, he was sitting to the immediate left of the King. That spot is typically reserved for a general. Hiei, on the other hand was seated on the right side of the King. At least, Hiei reflected dourly, he had Mukuro as a buffer between them. Meanwhile, Shigure, Mukuro's other general, had the great misfortune to sit next to Kurama. With Mukuro away greeting guests, it is clear that the youko had nothing better to do but to tease Shigure.

"Hmm _Shi-chan_, do tell me about this big piercing on your forehead." The fox twitched one silver ear.

"That big scar on your face adds _so much_ character." A playful flick of his tail.

"What is that _alluring earthy scent_ you are wearing? It goes _so well_ with your icy stare." The fox had the audacity to lean forward so that his face was mere inches away from Shigure's, head supported by slender hands that were propped up by elbows on the table. Shigure, avoiding eye contact and clearly uncomfortable shifted from the fox as respectfully far away as possible.

Hiei rolled his eyes and stopped paying attention.

He had known Shigure way before he met Mukuro. After all, Shigure was the one who implanted Hiei's jagen, his third eye, onto his forehead over eighty years ago when he was just fifteen. After that power reducing surgery, Shigure had trained Hiei on the art of swordsmanship. They parted ways just one short year later when Hiei deemed himself strong enough to survive on his own. Hiei never kept track of the surgeon after that, and was completely surprised when he learned that Shigure also worked under Mukuro's service.

In truth, Hiei admired Shigure and was thankful for his instructions in swordplay. He never once regarded Shigure as a political rival, mainly because Hiei have never really had any political ambitions. Besides, his power had outgrown that of Shigure's years ago and it had been clear from the onset that Mukuro was more interested in Shigure's skill as a surgeon than as a swordsman.

It was time for Mukuro to make her formal announcement. She gestured for Hiei and Kurama to join her at the center of the banquet hall. In a flash, Hiei was there beside her. The silver youko, however, made a show of slowly getting up from his seat and gliding gracefully to where they stood. The entire banquet hall hushed at his exquisite appearance. Though Hiei was annoyed, he now understood why so many of the servants had been on Team Hot Stranger.

"Lords and Ladies, my trusted advisers and counselors, as well as dear countrymen," began Mukuro. "It is my greatest honor to present Hiei Jaganshi. Please bear witness to his formal appointment as my heir." The guests kept silent. Annoyed, Mukuro dropped her formal demeanor. "Let's forget this formal bullshit, ok? Our proud country have never believed in hereditary succession but instead have relied on each King to choose a suitable successor. You all respect me for my power, my policies, my judgement, and my attitude. I'm here to announce that Hiei will continue my legacy. You can rest assured that he will never compromise our freedom by sucking up to any other territory, country, or realm, including those Reikai assholes."

At that, Mukuro nudged Hiei forward and the crowd cheered. Before her guests could implore her heir for an acceptance speech, she gestured to Youko Kurama and added, "Also present is Youko Kurama, key adviser for King Yomi of Gandara, acting as witness to Hiei's appointment. Let it be known by all of Makai that Hiei is now heir to Alaric." At that, Mukuro and Hiei started making their way around each banquet table to accept congratulations and kind wishes from the guests. Youko Kurama tagged along to flirt with the lords and ladies of Alaric.

By the time Hiei got back to the head table, desert had been served. No matter, it is the only course Hiei ever cares about. Mukuro was still making her rounds but Hiei could really wait no longer. Their pastry chef really outdid himself this time, the beautiful molten lava cake before him had blue Makai berry sauce generously drizzled on top and an abundance of decorative berries. Hiei made a mental note to reward the chef before picking up his fork and digging in.

Faster than he can blink though, Hiei's plate was snatched right before his eyes.

Eyes shooting daggers, Hiei looked up to meet the twinkling golden eyes of the silver youko. "Lord Heir," the fox leaned in and whispered in a breathy voice, "Let's trade. My plate obviously has a bigger slide of cake, and considering your fondness for chocolate, I think this one ought to be yours." Youko Kurama set his own plate before Hiei.

"Besides, I do love colorful baubles." The youko eyed the large berries on Hiei's plate and took a whiff with a look of utter pleasure. "The berries on your cake has an earthy aroma. Simply delightful."

Before Hiei could react, the Youko turned his attention to a low class serving woman who had been refilling their wine, "Would you like a bite, dear? It has been said that chocolate leads to higher levels of desire, arousal, and _sexual_ satisfaction. Here, have a taste." The youko offered up a morsel of cake and berry with his fork.

The serving woman blushed a deep shade of crimson, and allowed the charming youko to feed her.

"Snatch my food away without asking again and I'll kill you," Hiei glared at Kurama.

Satisfied that he could now enjoy his cake in peace, Hiei turned back and started eating, only to be interrupted by the sound of choking. The serving woman, who Kurama just fed, had wrapped her hands around her throat and was turning pale. Other wait staff were shrieking in fear while Shigure, Kurama, and Hiei observed passively. One of the head servants rushed forward to help the poor choking demon, but it was too late, she had started wheezing and then turned blue. Within moments, she was dead.

Kurama knelt down next to the body and took a quick sniff near her mouth. "Just as I suspected. The earthy scent of Makai swamp mushroom is unmistakable." He continued his explanation to both Shigure and Hiei, "This brightly colored and deadly mushroom is found only in the swamps 40 miles south of here in Alaric territory. The mushrooms must have been disguised as berries."

He tilted his head towards Hiei, "Now sweetheart, where's my kiss for foiling this assassination attempt?"


	3. Chapter 3

**Standard Disclaimers Applies. In this Chapter, Mukuro x Kurama is implied**

Quick Author's Notes: Hi all! After lurking ars site for years, I've finally decided to put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard...), and write a story of my own. I'd definitely appreciate feedback on the pace of the chapters and the portrayal of the characters!

I realize that the Youko is a bit out of character but hope to explain that later in the story. I also admit that I am having a bit of trouble with tense and is trying to work out the kinks. Any pointers are much appreciated!

* * *

A quick examination of the other lava cakes on the head table found no traces of the offending Makai swamp mushroom. It was only found on Hiei's original cake. While the servants were clearing away the corpse and the other generals were discussing the next course of action, Hiei quickly wolfed down the rest of the cakes. He had a feeling he won't get to eat cakes from this pastry chef for a while.

And he was right.

No one was sure who the perpetrator was, but that didn't stop Mukuro from locking up the head chef, the pastry chef, the senior wait staff, and even Shigure, whom Kurama had recalled smelling "earthy" at the beginning of the evening. In fact, to avoid future poisoning attempts, the new heir was ordered to hunt down and cook his own food until a perpetrator has been identified. This was bad news. Hiei hates cooking since he has only one cooking technique...incineration.

Hiei couldn't really think of anyone would want to poison him, least of all Shigure. After all, there is no honor and no pride in such a sneaky method of assassination and Shigure was anything but dishonorable. In fact, he doesn't think any Alarican would employ poison to kill. The citizens of this warrior state values strength above all else and were brought up with the concept of survival of the fittest ingrained in their minds. Mukuro was over reacting.

After the fifth day of eating charred food, Hiei decided it was time for Mukuro to release his favorite pastry chef and allow him to eat meals prepared by professionals.

Just as before the banquet and the succession announcement, The Alaric King had shut herself inside her private chambers. Hiei banged on her doors loudly, "Open up, woman!"

He found the heavy doors unlocked and flung them open. Inside Mukuro's sitting room, he found a half naked Youko Kurama pulling on a pair of white pants. The fox was facing away from the door and had five deep scratch marks running down each side of his wiry back. Without a glance at Hiei, the fox called out, "Mu-chan! Your dear heir is here to see you!" Hiei did not missed the fox's exaggerated sensual tone when he uttered his pet name for Mukuro.

The fox then turned to reveal bite marks all over his neck and bruises on his shoulder and wrists. There were bite marks all over his lips as well. "Lord Hiei, what a pleasure to see you again." The entire room stank of rose and cedar and fresh dew mixed with the smell of wards, of explosions, of energy...in other words - it smelled like Kurama and Mukuro. Hiei felt a slight flush on his cheeks.

Mukuro strolled out of her bedchamber in a similar state of undress. Her scarred right breast was practically hanging out of her thin robe and her neck showed matching bite marks.

"What happened to you two?" Hiei immediately regretted asking.

"Pure as the driven snow as always," Mukuro smirked. "We've been...playing games."

"Playing rough," purred the fox while he winked at the jagashi. "Well, I'd better freshen up. Mu-chan, please show our dear Lord Heir my little gift." At that, the fox strolled toward the bathroom with his tail swinging casually behind him.

Hiei stood glaring at the departing fox. He had never been interested in such carnal activities as fornication. Instead, he finds his release in fierce battles. The fiercer the battle, the more euphoric his climax. He understood that Mukuro have needs, but truly, she has been much too distracted ever since Youko Kurama showed up.

As if reading his mind, Mukuro said, "It's all fun and games you know. To Youko Kurama, I'm just the flavor of the month. Likewise, his pretty face and limber body can only keep me interested for so long. He's not really my type, you see. Though, having him around has been a breath of fresh air." Mukuro added, "you should do well to learn some tricks from him."

"I'm no pet. I don't do tricks." The red eye demon shot looks of disgust at Mukuro, ready to burn her to a crisp if she continued with this ridiculous talk.

Luckily for her, Mukuro did not push the issue further. "What do you need, Hiei?"

"Release the chefs," Hiei demanded. "I'd rather take my chances of being poisoned than eat charred food for the rest of my life."

Mukuro chuckled. "Well, it seems my lovely pet fox have just the trick for that." She picked up a small flowering plant from her sitting room table and presented it to Hiei. "This is a manticore orchid. It needs neither sunlight or water. Instead, its blossoms gather nutrients from eating solid food. If you feed a blossom poisonous food, it will whither and die before your eyes within a second." Mukuro smirked at Hiei. "How's that for a pretty trick?"

Hiei stared at her in response.

"Feel free to release your precious pastry chef." Mukuro dismissed him with a wave of her hand.

"Hn." Hiei replied before he flitted out of the room.

* * *

Hiei has been feeling odd ever since his visit to Mukuro. Since that day, he had felt a strange stirring deep down inside. He found himself wondering what it feels like to pin a seven foot tall fox down and...be intimate with him...whatever being intimate actually means. Was it like the bloodthirsty high he gets in the heart of an intense battle?

The youko was despicable, aggravating, shrewd, ruthless, chatty, powerful, perceptive, knowledgeable, graceful, bewitching…..Hiei cut this chain of thought short. He did not like where it was taking him. Instead, Hiei focused on the task at hand - training his troops. He was drilling his Class A captains, all two hundred of them, with the goal of increasing their speed and precision. It was important to instill a "take no prisoners" mentality in them, considering that's how true battles are won. Clever gimmicks had no place in warfare.

His mind drifted back to the youko. He had been thankful - though he would never openly admit it - that the youko had discover the Makai swamp mushrooms before he had eaten them. He was further indebted to the fox when he was set free from eating burnt food for the rest of his life by the fox's manticore orchid.

Hiei scowled. He would have to ensure that his debt to the youko is paid in full.

"There you are, Lord Heir!" Youko Kurama suddenly emerged from the bushes. Speak of the devil! Hiei wondered how the fox is able to hide his ki and appear undetected every time despite his distinct rose and cedar energy signature. Mukuro emerged behind the fox.

Damn it! Her too?

"Mu-chan and I are getting bored of being cooped up in the bedroom and decided to come out for some fresh air." The fox remarked mischievously. "What say we play a little game?" The confident fox twitched his ear and swished his silver tail. Mukuro smirked behind him.

"I'm busy training my captains." _Play_ was not an activity Hiei was familiar with.

"But the more the merrier," observed the youko, his tail now swishing to an unidentified beat. "It was so hard to convince Mu-chan to come out of her bed chamber. Can't we play a little game so she can stretch her limbs and stimulate her muscles?" The fox appealed. Behind him, Mukuro was looking highly amused.

It was becoming rare to see Mukuro outside of her bedchambers and Hiei thought it would do her good to flex her muscles and train with her troops. "What kind of game?" Hiei demanded.

"How about tag?" Hiei raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, but this isn't normal tag, you see. To win, you must find and immobilize the other players." Kurama winked and added, "By whatever means necessary, of course."

Before Hiei could respond, the fox poked him playfully on his forehead.

"You're..."

Another poke.

"..it."

As the foxed turned away towards the forest, he gestured to all two hundred of Hiei's captains and bellowed, "In fact, you're all it! It's you guys against Mu-chan and I, ok?" In a flash, Mukuro and Kurama were gone.

With a sigh, Hiei turned back to his men. "Alright men, let's treat this as a training simulation."

* * *

This was quickly becoming the most sophisticated game of tag ever. Now into day six of the game, Hiei and his captains were far away from the castle and deep in the Alarican forest. So far, the game had involved tracking, strategy, and coordination, not to mention hunting, gathering food, survival, and fighting off the beasts deep within the forest.

"Sir! No sign of King Mukuro and the Youko Kurama," reported one of the captains who had just returned to their makeshift camp on a short scouting mission. It had been over half a day since they lost the King's and the fox's trail. As a plant manipulator, the Youko had been spreading his ki signature among the greenery making it near impossible to find his exact location. Likewise, Mukuro's scent lingered in the air no matter where they were.

Four days ago, they came across what was evidently a site of recent copulation in a clearing. The scent of rose and cedar was heavy, and the trees were warped strangely. Some of the plants were manipulated into a waist high hammock-style swing that smelled strongly of Mukuro.

Two nights ago, Hiei was hot on their trail and had blasted a patch of forest into a wide open space with his dragon of darkness flame, only to find that his king and the fox had escaped yet again. Meanwhile, some of his captains have been ensnared by large, heat seeking venus fly traps, pierced by bamboo spikes bursting from the ground, and wounded by tele-kinetically controlled rocks - clearly a Mukuro touch. In fact, he have had to send almost half of his captains back to the castle to recover from their "game". Hiei had to admit that these shrewd tricks had kept him and his men completely occupied, and can see their merit in a few-against-many situation such as this. He also had to admit that the fox was more powerful than he lets on - perhaps not the brute force that Hiei normally prefers - but impressive nonetheless.

They were near the the Tourinese border now, but Hiei was too absorbed in the game to care. He felt like he was fighting Mukuro for the first time all over again. It was a intense feeling of perpetual homicidal arousal that can only be satisfied by winning and capturing Youko Kurama.

Suddenly, Hiei and his captains were surrounded by rose petals. He felt a small laceration on his cheek and realized with a start that the petals had razor sharp edges. All around him, his captains were yelping in pain and surprise. Two of the denser captains attempted to evade the petals only to be slashed all around their bodies. To counter the irritating gimmick, Hiei used his flame thrower technique to burn all the petals.

Hiei was getting frustrated. Up til now, he had not used his jagan to locate his king and the fox, because he had viewed it as cheating. But seeing that the fox had been using all of the forest's plants to confuse and harass him and his men for six days now, Hiei now felt that the use of the jagan was justifiable.

He ripped off the ward on his forehead to reveal his jagan and closed his two blood red eyes. The jagan opened and felt around the forest. Far off, perhaps three hours away from their current location at Hiei's top speed, it sensed two powerful energies twisted together. Furthermore, it seemed as if the two energies are entangled in a full fledged battle. Had the fox and his king grown tired of waiting for them? How dare they spar without him!

"I'm on their trail!" Hiei shouted to his captains and flitted towards the throbbing energies.

* * *

Author's Note Continued: This chapter was fun to write! Especially the last part highlighting all their fighting techniques!

As I was writing, I found that I would pause to speak dialogue out loud in the tone of each character to check whether or not it sounds right. Is it working? Does anyone have other tricks for writing in character dialogue?

Next chapter, we're shifting POV to Yusuke! Let's see what he's up to in Tourin.


	4. Chapter 4

**Standard Disclaimers Apply**

This chapter, we're moving to Tourin to see what Yusuke is up to. The pace should start picking up from here.

* * *

"Man! This being King thing is more boring than a drawn out Dragonball fight scene," exclaimed Urameshi Yusuke. Leaning back on his throne with his legs on the desk, he turned to his late father's top advisor, Hokushin, who was in the midst of an intelligence update on Alaric and Gandara. "Are you done your rambling yet?"

"Your Highness, it is imperative that you understand our current circumstances!"

"What's the big deal? Some Alarican General got named heir to Mukuro. What's that gotta do with me?"

"Your Highness, General Hiei is known to be a prodigy in swordsmanship and his appointment as heir have been spreading like wildfire among the common folk. Even before this announcement, there's been reports of common folk migrating to Alaric to join his army. But now that he is heir, the numbers have grown! In fact, there's been a mass exodus of Tourinese common folk to Alaric." Hokushin narrowed his eyes and emphasized, "Tourin's strength lies in our large labor force. If we have no miners working in the metal mines and no farmers in the fields, then there's no reason King Mukuro would want to be allied to us!"

"Yeah well, none of this would be a problem right now if you would only let me settle the conflict with a one-on-one fight with Yomi!" Yusuke thumped the heavy table with his fist.

"Your Highness, now is not the right time. A fight would result in you..."

"Getting my ass handed to me, right?" Yusuke finished the sentence.

"You got that right," Kuwabara, Yusuke's best friend and part-time advisor chimed in. "Remember what happened at your succession celebration? You're no where near ready yet."

"Aww man! Look, that was an accident, ok?" Yusuke pleaded. "I'm still trying to get used to this demon energy thing! Give me a break!"

It wasn't fair that everybody expects him to be as strong as his late father, Raizen. While it was true that Yusuke had inherited his father's incredible powers, Yusuke had spent most of his life as a normal human boy. It wasn't until Hokushin showed up at his apartment ten months ago that he learned the truth about his father and his powers. He had always assumed his father was a deadbeat dad who ran off on him and his mom.

"You'd better start training harder, Urameshi!" Kuwabara teased. While Kuwabara was 100% human, he had a high spirit awareness that allowed him to train alongside Yusuke. Although his powers were not nearly as strong, he had been able to master several essential skills.

"At least I don't need any training to beat you up!" Yusuke ignored Kuwabara's protests and turned his attention back to Hokushin, "so what are we going to do about Mukuro?"

"Your Highness, I do not advise taking any actions against Alaric for the time being." Hokushin continued, "In other news, there's been increased reports of both humans and demons being kidnapped. These culprits seem to be from Gandara."

"Yomi's up to no good then." Yusuke concluded.

"Your Highness, we don't know that for sure."

"Any idea what the kidnappers are doing with the victims?" asked Kuwabara.

"Regrettably, there is no intelligence on that. With adviser Shuichi away, we do not have updates from all of our sources."

"Damnit. When's he coming back?" Kuwabara crossed his arms. "He's been gone for almost a month now!"

"Oh, he's supposed to be back soon," said Yusuke. "Had some ningenkai issues to take care of. Something about his father's business."

"We're pretty much at war here! How can you still let him travel back and forth like this?" Kuwabara exclaimed.

"Well, that was the agreement. Besides, you've been travelling back and forth too! It's only because of summer vacation that you're able to be here for two months. You've gotta do what you've gotta do." Yusuke shrugged then turned his attention back to Hokushin, "Any more updates?"

"This is the end of the intelligence report, your Highness. We are still trying to reach your father's old sparring partners. Even if we are unable to convince them to join our cause, we at least need assurances that they will not join Mukuro or Yomi either." At this, Hokushin rolled up his report and placed it back into his pocket. "Shall we take a recess for lunch before we commence our afternoon training?"

"Sure. sure." Yusuke dejectedly waved Hokushin and the rest of his advisors away and then made a face at no one in particular.

Kuwabara leaned on his desk. As soon as he thought Hokushin and the other advisers were out of earshot, he said, "You ain't cut out for this."

"No shit, Sherlock!" Yusuke snapped. "It was supposed to be all fun and games, a chance to flex these demon powers, you know? I didn't expect to be sucked into the middle of a huge Makai conflict!"

Yusuke rested his head with his right arm and sighed again. "Where the hell is Shuuichi when I need him?"

Although he had invited both Shuichi and Kuwabara to be his advisers, it was Shuichi who always gave him the best advice. It was Shuichi who suggested setting up an intelligence network, it was Shuichi who advised him to invite Mukuro to his crowning ceremony to strengthen the two countries' relationships, and it was Shuichi who sent outriders to find his father's retired sparring partners.

"That girly red-head?" exclaimed Kuwabara. "You barely know him! You've only known him for what? A year? What's the deal, man? Why are you so attached to him?"

"He knows more about Makai than the two of us put together! I don't know where we would be without him!" Yusuke complained. "Besides, he doesn't 'Your Highness me' like all those other stuffy advisers!"

"Hey! I don't "Your Highness" you either!"

Yusuke realized with a start that Kuwabara was jealous over his attachment to Shuichi. Even though he would never express it, Yusuke was actually glad that Kuwabara was here in Makai with him. He kept him company and more importantly, made him feel like he wasn't the only one who didn't understand what's going on. Besides, Kuwabara was one of the few people who believed him when he announced his mazoku heritage.

Yusuke decided to lighten the mood, "That's because I'm a pain in your anus!" Yusuke laughed.

"Idiot!" Kuwabara exclaimed in an offended tone. "Forget you! I'm gonna get me a snack!" The carrot-top got up and then looked down at Yusuke, who was still sitting. "You coming?"

"Neh. I think I'm just gonna chill here."

Yusuke got up from his desk to look out of one of the large bay windows. Even after nine months here, he still hasn't gotten used to the purple Makai sky and strange vegetation.

Yusuke's mind wandered back to Shuichi. The redhead had been a frequent customer of his ramen stall. Early on, Yusuke had correctly deducted that Shuichi was different from most Japanese boys. Even though the redhead had been accepted into Todai, the best university in Japan, he had decided to work at his father's small business instead. There was also something about his expressive green eyes, his graceful movements, his calculating intelligence, and his knowing smile that gave him an otherworldly aura.

When Yusuke confided in Shuichi about his mazoku heritage, Shuichi had in turn confessed that he was in fact, part demon as well. Although he had lost his demonic powers, his human body contains a demon's soul. Shuichi had then admitted the was drawn to Yusuke's ramen stall because he had sensed demonic powers in him. Since then, Shuichi had been guiding him on what it means to be a demon and helping him understand Makai customs. Though Shuichi's human responsibilities have prevented him from being in Makai full-time, Yusuke found him to be his most valuable adviser nonetheless.

There was something else about Shuichi too, something that made his opinion matter more to Yusuke than that of other advisers. And then there was that night...No, Yusuke shook his head. That night was a mistake. He hadn't meant to do what he did.

Yusuke was so deep in thought that he didn't notice Hokushin reentering the throne room until the door clicked shut behind him. Thinking his recess was over, Yusuke turned to see the alarmed expression on Hokushin's normally composed face.

"What's wrong?

"Your Highness," Hokushin exclaimed. "I've just heard reports of a large group of Class A demons approaching our borders from Alaric! There are also reports of an active ki signature that is suspiciously similar to Mukuro's energy!

"Guess there's no helping it then," Yusuke grinned, ready for a distraction. "We'd better go kick some ass!"

* * *

Author's Note: Thanks for reading all the way through! I hope I was able to accurately capture Kuwabara and Yusuke's characters! Once I started writing their dialogue, it was easy to get side tracked, and I had to go back to cut it down... I hope it didn't slow the pace of the story too much. Once again, feedback is much appreciated!


	5. Chapter 5

**Standard Disclaimers Apply** In this chapter, implied Shuichi x Yusuke. Also - feedback appreciated!

* * *

"Spirit wave!" shouted Yusuke as he released a burst of energy at his attackers. Though he had trouble controlling his ki levels, he had no trouble steering it in the right direction. After all, he's been fighting all his life, and muscle memory as well as instincts guided him where his uneven ki levels failed. The blast hit its three targets and was strong enough to dispel two of his attackers.

Next to him, Kuwabara was using his Spirit sword to defend himself against his attacker. He was able to parry the moves though he was unable to counter attack. Yusuke could tell that Kuwabara was getting desperate when he started smack talking, probably in hopes of agitating his opponent into making a mistake. Ahead of them, Hokushin, Seitei, and Toshin were fighting off a group of demons.

Hokushin had cautioned them against engaging in battle given the lack of information and preparation. As soon as Yusuke had heard the news about the disturbance at the border, the hot-blooded King had charged out of the throne room with no planning and little regard for his own safety. There was little Hokushin and his other advisers could do but to follow him. Yusuke did, however, have the presence of mind to grab Kuwabara so that they could make use of his dimension sword technique to create a portal to the border.

When they had first arrived, Yusuke had heeded Hokushin's advice to stand down. But when a group of bloodthirsty Alaricans stumbled into Tourinese territory, Hokushin was the first to attack and ambush them.

Having knocked off his opponents for now, Yusuke rushed to Kuwabara's aid with his spirit punch attack. Hokushin followed with a spiritual light attack that disabled the rest of the Alaricans. Yusuke let out a roar of approval while Kuwabara plastered a silly grin on his face that signaled his relief.

A quick appraisal of their surroundings counted a total of twelve enemies down. Having been in the front lines, Seitei and Touou were slightly injured but were well enough to continue on. The two of them were supporting each other.

"What poor excuses for Class A demons," Touou observed.

"Yes, that was too easy." Hokushin looked thoughtful. "Under normal circumstances, demons of this caliber would not have their guard down so close to enemy territory. They seemed distracted, as if they were looking for something."

All at once, they jumped to attention as a barrage of energy resonated in the hills not too far ahead on the Alarican side of the border. Yusuke caught a gust of strange aroma. It was a mixture of smoke, incense, explosions, gun powder, rose, and cedar. He could feel three distinct energies flaring and interlocked in conflict.

"Hmph. Class S demons." Touou remarked.

"Oi! This I've gotta see for myself!" Yusuke blurted. The only other Class S demons he'd ever seen in action have been Hokushin and Raizen. At this exact moment, Yusuke could not think of anything more exciting than seeing the raw power of three Class S demons in battle.

"Your Highness! Who ever they are, we are definitely no match for them." Hokushin cautioned. "Especially since one of them is definitely Mukuro."

Kuwabara arched both his eyebrows in surprise. "Mukuro? Isn't she insanely powerful? There's no way we can take her down even if it was five against one!"

"What a coward!" Yusuke scoffed. "Why don't you run back home to your sister and kittens, you wimp!"

"Your Highness, this is no time for jests," the normally quiet Seitei interjected. "However, I do believe we should investigate. Hokushin, Touou, and I can create a ki barrier that will hide our presence and allow us to observe at a safe distance."

In silent agreement, the three demon monks started chanting. A green bubble appeared and started to rapidly expand between them until it finally engulfed the whole group.

"Awesome!" Yusuke poked at the edge of the bubble while Kuwabara started sniffing at it.

"Your Highness and Kuwabara san, while there is no physical restraint that holds you within this barrier, please do not leave until we are beyond the sensory range of the Class S demons." Hokushin warned. With that, they started heading towards the hills.

Once they got closer, the scent Yusuke had noticed earlier became overwhelming. The whole hillside in front of them was alive with activity. Patches of the hill were completely scorched, while the vegetation in other parts was actively joining the foray. There was a big explosion of energy, followed by flashes from a sword. After that, all Yusuke could see were two blurs of activity. One black, one purple. The third fighter was missing, and Yusuke assumed, defeated.

Just ahead of them, on the Tourinese side of the border, there was another flurry of activity. Something or someone was heading away from the battle and hurtling towards them. Before he realized what he was doing and before Hokushin or any of the others could stop him, Yusuke had fired his Spirit Gun towards the new threat. The beam of energy easily exited the ki barrier and hit the unsuspecting intruder. As the intruder dropped to the ground, Yusuke noticed the familiar mane of red hair.

"Shuichi!" Yusuke vaulted towards his fallen adviser.

Picking up the redhead from the ground, Yusuke silently thanked the gods that he didn't have full control of his powers. Shuichi was conscious but stunned. He put his hands lightly on his abdomen, where the blast of Spirit Gun had made contact. "Ah..Yusuke san.."

"I'm sorry for attacking you!" Yusuke followed up his apology with a flood of questions. "Can you walk? Are you alright? What are you doing here?"

"I was returning to Makai...the portal opened…there was this mass of energy…"

Before Shuichi could continue, Hokushin and the rest of the group caught up to them and once again enveloped them in the green ki barrier. "Your Highness, we have to go now! Mukuro might have sensed your presence when you fired the spirit gun! Kuwabara san, if you would please take us back to the castle…."

With a nod of acknowledgement, Kuwabara sliced the air with his dimension sword and pulled the tear apart for everyone to pass through.

* * *

Yusuke kept watch over Shuichi while he recovered from the Spirit Gun attack. The redhead was sleeping in Yusuke's quarters as the guilt ridden king wanted to be close to him when he woke. Yusuke kneeled next to the bed and swepted Shuichi's long red fringe from his face. Emerald eyes fluttered open at his touch.

"Yusuke san…"

"How are you feeling? Does it still hurt?"

"No. I believe I'm in much better shape now. Thank you for asking." Shuichi peered up at him with a look of concern of his face. "How have you been?"

"You mean since I knocked you down with the Spirit Gun or since you left for ningenkai?"

Shuichi managed a small laugh. "Both, I guess."

"I think the answer to both of those are _I've been feeling like shit_." Yusuke put his hand on Shuichi's forehead. "I'm so sorry.."

"About what?"

"About the Spirit Gun and well…_you know_…after my succession ceremony.." Yusuke trailed off.

"Which part? The drinking contest? The strip tease? The hole in the banquet hall ceiling? Or the passing out?" Shuichi teased.

"For pinning you down and kissing you!" Yusuke blurted and then turned a deep shade of crimson. He stood up and turned away. He couldn't bring himself to look at Shuichi any more. "I was drunk and confused and you were the first person I saw when I came to, and you just smelled so nice and before I knew what I was doing, I was already doing it."

"I was a willing participant."

Yusuke's ears suddenly felt very hot. "I forced you." _And it had felt good. _He thought to himself.

"As my King, you have every right to exercise your dominance over your subjects. I was perfectly aware of that when I agreed to be your adviser." Shuichi sat up.

"No, you didn't sign up for dealing with a horny moron."

"No, but I did sign up for guiding my wayward King be it through Makai conflicts or demonic growing pains." Shuichi reached for Yusuke's hand. "Should you require such services again, you need only request."

Feeling insulted, Yusuke pulled his hand away. "I told you, I wasn't myself! It would never happen again."

"Very well." Shuichi maintained his composure, though his skin paled a little. "Any news on Mukuro and the conflict at the borders?"

Glad for the change of subject, Yusuke responded, "Not really. It seems that the fight at the border is over. We don't know who Mukuro was fighting and we haven't noticed any surge in ki from that direction since. We did however, kill some of the Class A demons that trampled on to our territory. Hokushin says there may be repercussions." Yusuke narrowed his eyes, "what do you think they were doing there?"

"Perhaps a show of power. Perhaps to tempt you into battle. Regardless, it doesn't bode well. What of Yomi?" Shuichi started absentmindedly rubbing his temples.

"Little news since Hokushin hasn't been able to reach your spy network. But there's been talks of increased kidnapping coming from Gandara."

Suddenly, Shuichi got up from the bed and started smoothing out the wrinkles on his clothes. He slipped on his shoes and started for the door.

"Where do you think you're going?" Yusuke asked.

"To talk to my informants and find out what our dear friend, Yomi, is up to."

"You can't leave now. We're on the verge of major political unrest here. What if I need your advice?"

"Until I ascertain the situation between Alaric and Gandara, I don't have sound advice to provide. Besides, if it comes to a fight, there is nothing I or anyone else can do to stop you." Kurama flashed one of his meek but knowing smiles that never quite reaches his eyes. "Your power levels rival Mukuro. Now if only you were able to fully control them..."

Yusuke's face lit up as if a light bulb went off in his head. He ran out of his room shouting, "Hokushin! Get your lazy ass over here! We're training!"

* * *

Author's Notes: The first part of this chapter was so hard to do. Not only are fight scenes hard, I also had trouble deciding what to portray and what to save for later. Is the pace still ok? Feedback is much appreciated!

Next chapter, we are shifting POV again. This time we're seeing things through Shuichi's eyes so we can go with him to Gandara and find out what the hell is going on.


	6. Chapter 6

**Standard Disclaimers Apply** This chapter: implied Shuichi x Yusuke, implied Shuichi x Yomi (non-con also implied)

The beginning of this chapter overlaps the end of the previous chapter. We're going to see the same conversation from Shuichi's point of view before moving on.

As always, feedback appreciated!

* * *

Shuichi woke up to see Urameshi Yusuke next to him leaning on the the side of the bed. He observed that he was in Yusuke's quarters, in fact, he was in the King's bed. The normally hot-blooded and rash man-child before him carried an expression of care and worry plainly on his face. It was this genuine and open side of him that drew Shuichi in.

"Yusuke san…"

"How are you feeling? Does it still hurt?" The king must have been waiting for him to wake up. Shuichi was a little flattered that Yusuke was looking after him despite all the recent events that must now be straining for his attention.

"No. I believe I'm in much better shape now. Thank you for asking." Shuichi shifted the attention to Yusuke. He'd rather be the one asking the questions. "How have you been?"

"You mean since I knocked you down with the Spirit Gun or since you left for ningenkai?"

Shuichi laughed. "Both, I guess." Yusuke had made a mockery of himself both during and after the succession celebration. Shuichi didn't really mind, that side of him was endearing as well. What he really meant to do was jog the young King's memory of the kiss they shared and see the young King's apologetic reaction. He kept probing until Yusuke reddened and finally bought up the incident. Shuichi inwardly laughed when Yusuke came up with a run-on sentence worth of excuses for his behavior.

Suddenly, Shuichi heard the call.

_Fox._

Yusuke had stopped talking and was looking appropriately remorseful. Shuichi decided to string him along. "I was a willing participant." That much was true. He had been wondering if the King kissed the same way he behaved - warm, carefree, strong, daring, and protective. It was all of that and more.

At this, Yusuke blushed all the way to his ears. "I forced you."

Shuichi continued to play the submissive subordinate. "As my King, you have every right to exercise your dominance over your subjects. I was perfectly aware of that when I agreed to be your adviser."

_Fox. Fox._

The call came again. Louder this time. Shuichi sat up.

"No, you didn't sign up for dealing with a horny moron."

"No, but I did sign up for guiding my wayward King be it through Makai conflicts or demonic growing pains." Shuichi's head was starting to hurt. He refused to let it show on his face and instead decided to fluster Yusuke some more. He reached for Yusuke's hand. "Should you require such services again, you need only request." Shuichi added demurely.

_Fox. Fox. Fox._

Looking humiliated, Yusuke responded but Shuichi couldn't hear his reply clearly.

Decided to drop this subject, he gave a neutral response. "Very well." His head was really pounding now. Soon the call would be too loud. "Any news on Mukuro and the conflict at the borders?" Shuichi asked, even though he already knew.

_Fox. Fox. Fox. Fox. Fox. Fox._

The call was getting even louder and more urgent. Shuichi wanted desperately to pull his red locks out in tufts so he could distract himself from the pain. Somewhere between the calls, Shuichi heard Yusuke asking him what he thought Mukuro was doing at the border.

"Perhaps a show of power. Perhaps to tempt you into battle. Regardless, it doesn't bode well." While he enjoyed Yusuke's company, Shuichi needed to get out of here now. He needed to change the subject and an excuse to leave. "What of Yomi?"

Once again, Yusuke responded with information he already knew.

_FOX. FOX. FOX. FOX. FOX. FOX. FOX. FOX. FOX._

The call was now demanding his attention. His entire body throbbed. He couldn't talk any more. He could barely hide his pain.

Shuichi got up from the bed and slipped on his shoes. He needs to go to Gandara, _now_.

"Where do you think you're going?" Yusuke asked.

Shuichi gave an excuse about investigating what Yomi was up to. But Yusuke wasn't satisfied and asked him what he should do about Mukuro. Shuichi wanted to push him out of the way. He had forgotten how stubborn Yusuke could be.

In a sudden moment of clarity, Shuichi realized that the plans he had painstakingly laid may be at stake if adviser Hokushin, who is known to shy away from confrontation, got his way while he was gone. He needed to ignite a fire within Yusuke, and Shuichi knew exactly how to do that. "Your power levels rival Mukuro. Now if only you were able to fully control them..."

Just as Shuichi had expected it to, Yusuke's face lit up at the praise and suggestion. He practically bounded out of his room shouting, "Hokushin! Seitei! Kuwabara! Get your lazy asses over here! We're training!"

As soon as Yusuke was gone, Shuichi shut and secured the heavy doors of Yusuke's bedroom. Finally alone, Shuichi sank down to the floor with his head in his hands and screamed.

* * *

Shuichi felt like his head was about to detonate. The calls were coming at a furious beat, so rapidly that all the words seem to blend into one.

_FOXFOXFOXFOXFOXFOXFOXFOXFOXFOX_

He was vaguely aware of where he was. He was in a chamber that he had spent a lot of sleepless nights in. One that held a lot of shameful memories. But right now, none of that mattered. He needed the calls to cease. He needed to purge himself of this migraine. He needed _Yomi_.

After Shuichi had returned to his senses in Yusuke's room, the redhead had made himself a powerful concoction that dampened the calls enough for him to discreetly make his way to the Gandaran border. By the time he got there though, the roaring in his head had become so overwhelming that Shuichi could no longer endure. From there, two demons appeared seemingly out of thin air, transported him straight to this chamber, and dumped him into the bed where he promptly huddled in a fetal position.

"Fox."

The thumping in his head was so loud that Shuichi couldn't tell whether someone was actually calling for him or if a new voice had joined the one in his head.

"Fox."

Someone was shaking him violently now. Shuichi opened his eyes to see Yomi hovered over him. Yomi, the reason why he was in pain to begin with. Yomi, the only demon who could relieve his pain now. Shuichi had promised himself he would not beg, but he couldn't stop the tears from streaming down his face.

"Drink." Yomi was holding him up and pressed a bowl to his lips. Shuichi eagerly gulped the warm brew down. "There, there. You'll feel better shortly." Was Yomi comforting him?

Slowly but surely, the throbbing in his head subsided into a dull ache and the calls ebbed into whispers until both went away. Hesitantly, Shuichi sat up and rubbed his temples. Yomi was sitting on the edge of the bed. Shuichi would need his wits about him.

"I'm disappointed that you didn't see fit to visit me until the calls started, old friend." Yomi wrinkled his forehead.

"I do not wish to deceive you, your Majesty, I must confess that I only came for the antidote." Two years ago, when Yomi had the first break-through in his chemical warfare research program, the first individual he used the virus on was the fox. Since then, the fox have had to return to Yomi once a month to get his antidote in order to survive.

"I do thank you for your honesty. It's a shame I cannot see you now. My aides painted such a pretty picture of your suffering for me. I can only imagine the fiery flush on your pale skin, the delicate tears that clung like morning dew to your soft eyelashes before rolling down your lovely face, and the soft trembling on your fragile human body."

Yomi climbed onto the bed and under the covers. He reached for Shuichi but he backed away. "Now, now, dear friend, I was only hoping to comfort you since that pitiful image was tugging at my heart strings." Yomi smiled sincerely and then added, "You know better than to deny me."

Shuichi held his tongue and settled into Yomi's embrace. While he couldn't bring himself to look, he could feel Yomi's breath near his temple and his hands gently caressing his arms. Inwardly, Shuichi cringed.

"I do enjoy holding your human form. It's so much daintier than your Youko form. Though your Youko form offers other pleasures as well, Shuichi...or shall I call you Kurama?" The fox shrugged.

Abruptly dropping his tender demeanor, Yomi took on a more commanding tone. "Enough with the pleasantries. Report."

Kurama prefered this clearly defined master and subordinate relationship over Yomi's mock courtesy. At least he didn't have to feign civility.

"While Mukuro doesn't trust me enough to confide in me or share any useful information, I've managed to distract her from her territory's affairs for the last month or so. I don't believe she is aware of the kidnappings and the tests that you have been conducting. Neither is she aware of the re-positioning of your men along the borders."

"I'm surprised she allowed you to be close to her for so long. She must know that you are my adviser."

"_Everyone_ knows Youko Kurama works for you," _But none of them know why._ Shuichi wanted to snap but decided against it. "Mukuro seems more intent on having some mindless fun than worrying about political affairs."

"And Why wouldn't she? After all, she had the infamous Youko Kurama,_ legendary whore_, in her arms." Yomi chuckled unkindly while the fox jerked and bit his lower lip. Yomi gripped him tighter as if to chastise him for showing displeasure. "Tell me about her new heir."

"General Hiei has a one track mind. I feel he is easier to grasp than Mukuro though he comes across as more difficult. As long as you don't get into the way of what he wants, he has a complete disregard for the things happening around him." Shuichi allowed his mind to wander back to Hiei. Shuichi was able to easily pick up on the compact demon's many moods and mannerisms and did not miss the way Hiei's eyes lingered on him ever since the assassination attempt. It was clear that the fire demon had acquired an unspoken appreciation for him.

"I heard there was a commotion at the border between Alaric and Tourin."

"I thought it would be fun to lead Hiei and Mukuro, along with two hundred of their captains on a merry little chase towards the Tourinese border."

Yomi snickered and started to absentmindedly pet Kurama's hair. If he hadn't known better, Kurama would have mistaken the action for fondness.

"Not surprisingly, King Yusuke could not contain his curiosity and went to the border with his advisers to investigate the disturbance. They killed several of Mukuro's captains. I am hoping this will be the catalyst that launch them into war."

"So that simpleton hasn't realized your real identity yet?"

Kurama shook his head. "I'm a fox. Sneaking around unnoticed is my specialty." He didn't like Yomi referring to Yusuke as simpleton.

"And Raizen's old friends? Are they a threat?"

"I don't believe so. I know where they are, but they haven't mobilized to meet Yusuke. It appears they intend to stay out of this conflict."

"Good fox. Sounds like you had fun playing espionage." Yomi smiled at him, the warmth not reaching his eyes. "The antidote will be delivered to your dear father and brother by tomorrow morning."

"What about mother?" Kurama was alarmed. Different viruses have been given to each of his family members. Even though their viruses were not as painful as the one he carries and did not flare up as often, the thought of Shiori in even a tiny bit of pain rattled him.

"Don't be greedy, my dear fox, if you want an antidote for your mother, you're going to have to do more tricks." Yomi smiled again, a predatory expression flickered on his face. He buried his face in Kurama's hair. "I can still smell your coupling with Mukuro on you,_ whore_."

Swiftly, Yomi kicked him off the bed.

"Now strip." Yomi commanded with an air of authority befitting a Makai King. "Your mother will get her dose when you smell only of me."

* * *

Author's Notes: It was fun getting into Kurama's head and navigating the complicated maze of his thoughts and feelings. Though, I think I may have to stay away from his point of view for a while, it gives away too much of the story. Next chapter - We go back to Hiei. Would his competitive nature allow him to lose at a game of tag?

Don't forget to leave some feedback! I'd also like to some ideas if you have any to spare.


	7. Chapter 7

**Standard Disclaimer Applies**

The Makai scenery wiped by him in a blur of colors. Trees blurred into smudges of varying green shades, none of them taking any distinct shape. As if knowing the repercussions of crossing his path, the Makai vegetation stayed out of his way. Anything that didn't was instantly reduced to ashes.

Hiei prided himself on being a fast learner. He had quickly picked up on how Mukuro and Youko Kurama managed to hide their ki so well. The trick lies in spreading one's ki signature so thinly that it permeates an entire area. The ki must be so omnipresent that those who don't recognize the signature would simply assume it was part of the environment, and those that did recognize the signature would never be able to pinpoint the exact location of its bearer.

How handy that he acquired this new skill just before this new reconnaissance mission.

It had been over three days ago since they had put a halt to that ridiculous game of tag, when they had noticed King Yusuke's unmistakable ki signature of freshly cut grass and zingy ginger. (No, he _hadn't_ lost. They are simply on an _intermission_.) Realizing that they had veered too close to Tourinese borders, Mukuro and Hiei ceased their sparring. By then Youko Kurama had vanished. Neither Hiei or Mukuro knew when and where, they had been too absorbed to notice his departure. Mukuro had shrugged it off as foxes having short attention spans, but Hiei felt there was something suspicious.

When they returned to the castle, Hiei took a roll call to find twelve of his captains missing, and presumably killed by Yusuke and his men. This was an affront to Hiei, but Mukuro stopped him before he could challenge Yusuke, preferring to deal with this mess herself. But as far as Hiei could tell, she hadn't taken any real action.

With Youko Kurama finally gone, Hiei had expected Mukuro to return to her old self, training with him and the troops, presiding over council meetings, and reverting back to her dark and callous personality. Instead, she once again retreated to her quarters, wrote some letters, and sent her generals on strange missions. Shigure, finally released from his dank prison, was sent to gather demons that have barrier creation abilities. Hiei was dispatched on this current mission.

He was to search for signs of unusual activity on the borders between Gandara and Alaric. He was also specifically instructed not to kill anyone he came across. Hiei had spat at her, the one thing he hated more than ambiguous assignments was repressing his instincts to kill his enemies.

At least the assignment was easy. Hiei simply employed his jargan to find all areas of suspicious activity and then flitted to each hot spot to investigate. A majority of them revealed nothing of significance, having just been innocent fights among the common folk. However, he had come across three small camps of Gandaran demons spread out evenly on the Gandaran side of the border. Each camp contained no more than four or five demons and judging by their conversation, they were waiting for something - a signal perhaps. This was not an invading force, none of the demons were particularly strong and would never be able to cause any real havoc. Hiei marked down each camps' location in his mind map as he continued to flit to the next hot spot.

As he discovered another Gandaran camp, Hiei - to his surprise - noticed a faint smell of roses, cedar, and fresh dew. Remembering that he still had a game of tag to win, Hiei drew closer to the camp to see if the incorrigible fox was there.

He wasn't.

But Hiei did noticed strange little seeds scattered around the perimeter of the camp. He picked one up and sniffed it. The scent was faint but it was definitely smelled like fox. Hiei flitted along the trail of seeds, still cautiously hiding his ki, until -

There he is! The vain silver fox was kneeling next to a small stream preoccupied with washing himself.

Hiei drew his katana. He needed to do this quickly and quietly without alarming the Gandaran camp. Instantaneously, he had his katana on the youko's bare throat. Hiei fisted a handful of long silver hair, yanked it back and whispered into a pointy ear, "Gotcha."

The fox reacted quickly. Within moments, Hiei's arms were immobilized by a mass of vines that had appeared out of no where. Just before he incinerated the vines, the fox cautioned quietly, "don't use your ki or they'll notice us."

Hiei froze. _Was the fox hiding from his own troops?_ The jarganshi regarded the fox suspiciously. Despite his tangled hair, disheveled tunic, torn ear, and a katana at his throat, the fox's body language spoke of composure. His fringe and forelocks were wet, dripping beads of spring water onto Hiei's blade and onto the his own white tunic, rendering it translucent. Reluctantly, Hiei allowed his eyes to wander down the youko's body, he had never been this close to the fox before. Somehow the fox had managed to amass more bites and bruises on his pale chest, neck, and arms since the last time they met. The fox had also somehow acquired a new foreign smell of rain and thunderstorm. At the sudden realization, Hiei felt a pang of resentment. Mukuro was right, foxes _do_ have a short attention span.

"Easy there, Lord Heir. Let's take a timeout on our game, shall we? I don't think either of us want to attract any attention today." Youko Kurama flashed him a ravishing smile, then tilted his head to study him with a sudden spark in his eyes.

Hiei hated that. He found it inconceivable that the irksome fox was unaware of his own charisma. Clearly, he was using this power to his advantage. Averting his eyes, Hiei refused to be charmed by the fox and quickly nodded.

Immediately, the vines slipped away from his arms and he quickly released the fox's hair.

"Let's find a place more convenient to talk."

Youko Kurama got up and started walking briskly away from the stream. Hiei fell into step next to him.

The fire demon felt a myriad of confusing emotions: envy, displeasure, relief, eagerness...he discarded those feelings and settled for his default: annoyance. There was no reason for Hiei to feel pleased about seeing Youko Kurama. All the vile fox ever does is prance around and flirt. He was Mukuro's pet, for god's sake! Besides, this creature had no honor, associating with Mukuro and himself all the while working for Yomi. Yet, yet, Hiei had to admit that he felt attracted to the fox. He clenched his jaw. It was only because he felt indebted to the fox. _That's really all there was to it,_ Hiei concluded, stealing a sideway glance at the graceful fox.

They've been trekking in silence for a while when the fox started humming a nondescript tune.

Agitated by this display of nonchalance, Hiei barked, "What were you doing back there?"

"Gardening."

Hiei arched his eyebrow at the strange answer. Still irritated, though Hiei wasn't sure if the feeling was triggered by the emotional roller coaster in his head or by the fox, Hiei withdrew his katana. "Speak plainly! We are out of the camp's sensory range now, I won't hesitate to cut you."

"Quick to anger, I see. But if you had wanted to cut me, you would've done so long ago, seeing that we've been out of range for a while," the fox observed, unfazed.

Hiei continued to glare.

"Fine, fine, I'll tell you," the fox sighed and made a grand show of brushing his long hair off of his shoulders. "Yomi and I are having a minor disagreement on military tactics. I don't like what he's doing with all these little camps, so I'm asking my pets to keep an eye on them while I'm away." He withdrew a pouch full of seeds and dangled it in front of Hiei.

Hiding his surprise at the frank response, Hiei spat, "Weaklings, the lot of them. They would never succeed in an ambush."

"That's exactly my concern," Youko Kurama nodded in agreement, apparently unwilling to provide any more information on _what_ the purpose of those camp were. "How many camps have you found?"

"Three more to the south," Hiei revealed before he could stop himself. Why was he offering information to the Youko?

Probably to reward his cooperation, Youko Kurama graced him with the sincerest smile he'd ever seen from the fox, "if you head north, you will find four more of these camps."

Hiei turned to leave so he could complete this pathetic mission, but something in the way the fox stood gave him pause.

"General Hiei," he began, looking a little uncertain. "I have two favors to ask of you."

Hiei frowned. What was the fox up to this time? At least the Youko was offering him a way to repay his debt. _Good, no more emotional roller coasters._

"I need you to deliver a message to Mukuro."

"What?" Just his luck. First this stupid mission, and now the fox is asking him to be an errand boy.

"Tell her: 10 days." Golden eyes met red eyes, imploring him to help.

"What else?" Hiei was getting used to the fox's cryptic way of communicating.

"I need you to locate something for me," said the fox, pointing at his jagan.


	8. Chapter 8

**Standard Disclaimers Apply** Lots of plot things in this chapter.

Hi all, I was very tired and very eager to get this published when I uploaded this chapter last night even though I wasn't 100% happy with it. When I read it again this morning on the way to work, I liked it even less. I've now made some tweaks and allowed Yusuke to suffer a bit more but kept most of the chapter intact. If you've been following the story, I'm sorry for my constant editing. I hope this now reads better.

* * *

Yusuke had promised himself one week. One week to train, yes, seriously train, train like his life depended on it, train like an entire country depended on it. Scratch that, his country _did_ depend on it because after one week, Yusuke was going to challenge Mukuro. He didn't tell this plan to Hokushin - the stuffy monk would only get in his way - but he did tell Kuwabara.

Much to his surprise, instead of making fun of him or trying to talk him out of it, Kuwabara had encouraged him. And then, to his greater surprise, Kuwabara had promised to back him up when the time comes. In between training sessions, the two of them researched Mukuro's techniques then discussed battle tactics and strategies. They took turns role-playing the fight, first with Kuwabara as Mukuro, and then Yusuke as Mukuro. They were so very, very psyched up.

On day five, a report came.

They were mock-fighting in the courtyard when it came. It was Yusuke's turn to be Mukuro and he was wearing the plates from a rusty suit of armor on his right arm, trying to imitate Mukuro's robotic arm (this was serious business and serious business required serious simulations). Hokushin loudly cleared his throat to get their attention. Behind him, Seitei was frowning and Touou looked more agitated than normal.

"Your Majesty, we've received an important report from our scouts," said Hokushin, producing a scroll from his pocket.

"What's the news?" Kuwabara was the first to react.

"Lemme see that!" Yusuke took a last swipe at Kuwabara while he still was distracted, then dropped the armor and leapt towards Hokushin, snatching the parchment from his hands. He eagerly unrolled it and -

"Shit, I can't read this." The report was in a language unique to Makai. Yusuke tossed the scroll back to Hokushin. Behind him, Kuwabara howled in laughter.

Hokushin frowned and took a quick scan of the report. The look on his face changed from smooth and impassive to wrinkled in concern and then to utter horror. He looked up from the report. Four pairs of eyes peered back anxiously at him.

"Your Highness.." Hokushin looked like he was at a loss for words. "Our scouts are reporting strong energy activity at our border with Alaric again. It seems King Mukuro and General Hiei are conducting military exercises."

"So what?"

"Your Highness, there is a high possibility that they could be preparing an attack on us. This could be the repercussion of killing twelve of their captains."

"Oh yeah? Bring it on!" Yusuke exclaimed excitedly.

"Yeah! We're so ready for this!" Kuwabara added.

Touou scowled at their enthusiasm.

"The scouts were able to take a rough measure of their power," Hokushin continued, still looking completely horrified. "I regret to inform you that Mukuro alone measured over 2 million in ki energy. Hiei measured at almost the same level."

Unsure of what that meant, Yusuke ventured, "Hokushin, what's your power level?"

"Your Highness, my ki maxes out at 36,000." Hokushin responded, looking increasingly aghast. Seitei was slowly shaking his head and Touou looked dejected.

The five of them looked at each other in silence. If Yusuke wasn't so taken aback by this news, he would have found their facial expressions priceless. Especially Kuwabara. The carrot top's eyebrows were practically touching his hairline, his eyes were so wide that his irises became mere brown dots in a sea of white, and his jaw was just about to touch the ground.

Without even needing to make eye-contact with the carrot-top, Yusuke already knew they were thinking the same thing: There was no way in hell they could beat Mukuro.

* * *

Yusuke felt so bummed-out and confused. The last week had been full of strange events and bad news. First it was the disturbance at the border, then it was Shuichi's reappearance, followed by Shuichi's disappearance, then the report on Mukuro's power, and finally the realization that they might be soon at war with the powerful king. Now, Shuichi was playing mad scientist.

Shuichi had returned two days after the report arrived. Without announcing his return or even seeing Yusuke, he had retired to his private quarters with a request to not disturb him. Of course, growing up sharing a tiny 2DK* apartment with his mother, Yusuke had no concept of personal space. _Request denied._

The Tourinese king barged into Shuichi's private quarter with a plate of Makai pheasant. The servants have been leaving the redhead food outside his doors but the he left it all untouched. Yusuke was determined to make Shuichi eat whether he liked it or not, besides, he desperately needed advice.

He found Shuichi dozing fitfully at his desk with his head on folded arms. Surrounding him were beakers, flasks, test tubes in test tubes holders, pouches upon pouches of plant matter, tiny little jars of god-knows-what, a microscope, and other lab equipment Yusuke could not identify.

Yusuke gently tapped the redhead while noting his haggard appearance. Something must have happened to Shuichi while he was away.

Stirring and turning his head towards Yusuke, emerald eyes still half closed, Shuichi muttered, "Yusuke san?"

"Hey there sleeping beauty! We need to talk!" Yusuke summoned up as much spunk as possible to hide how dejected he was.

Shuichi must have realized that he had been neglecting his duties as Yusuke's adviser because he suddenly jerked up and straightened his back. "Forgive me for not seeking you out earlier," said Shuichi as he got up from the desk. "What's the matter?"

"Mukuro is planning an attack on us." As soon as he said that, the emotions he have been trying so hard to control all came out like the floodgates have been opened. Yusuke have never been good at hiding his feelings and it was impossible to hide how dispirited he was right now. "I was such a fool. I thought I could take her on, but I've been training and training, and there's no way I can match her powers, let alone beat her."

"Yusuke san, its unlike you to sound so defeated," Shuichi said with a gentle smile. He got up from his desk and started rummaging through his possessions. "I don't believe your problem to be lack of power, as a matter of fact, you have plenty of it. The problem is concentration, but more importantly, the problem is your humanity."

Not really listening, Yusuke continued his train of thoughts. "This is serious shit, Shuichi. I sat down with Kuwabara and the monks and we looked at power levels, terrain, weapons arsenal, troop size, and a boat load of other stuff. The only thing we have on Mukuro is pure man power and resources. We have stores of food, and we have almost double the population of Alaric."

Shuichi nodded. "The great Chinese general and strategist Sun Tzu once said '_I make the enemy see my strengths as weaknesses and my weaknesses as strengths, while I cause his strengths to become weaknesses and discover where he is not strong.'_ Perhaps there is something we can learn here."

Yusuke was too deep in his own thoughts to really absorb and digest Shuichi's comment. There were too many factors at play and too many things to worry about. This wasn't a street fight where if you lost, you may have to suffer the humiliation but no one else is affected. There was an entire country at stake here and Yusuke felt like the world was on his shoulders. He let out a big sigh.

"I may have something that can help you," Shuichi said thoughtfully. Finally finding what he was looking for, he presented Yusuke with a plain little box. "This will not help us win a war, but it may buy us some time."

Inside the box was a thick golden ring with seven spokes pointing outward from its broader end. "What's this?"

"This concentration ring multiples the available power of its wearer by threefold. It will help you concentrate your raw power into a strong spirit gun blast." At the excited look on Yusuke's face, Shuichi quickly added. "But, Yusuke san, you will only get three shots daily, and you will be severely exhausted afterwards."

"How's that going to help us? I need to take down both Mukuro and Hiei!"

"As I've said, this will not aid us in a full scale war. Instead, it may delay the battles if we manage to deceive our enemy into thinking we are stronger than we actually are. It may give us extra time to build up our powers and our forces. In short, this is a ruse."

Realization slowly hit Yusuke. "Oh, I get it! You want me to wear this and blast my energy towards Alaric." He grabbed the ring and tried it on his index finger. Putting his hand up towards the light, he admired the way the ring glinted. He was right to come to Shuichi for advice.

"Yes, Yusuke san. Being Raizen's son, I believe your true demon powers to be as high as Mukuro. Since this ring helps you concentrate your powers and increases it by threefold, it should serve as a good deterrence. I advise that you fire a few shots near the border."

"Ok, but how much time will that buy us? It doesn't change the fact that we're not strong enough."

"That's true. That's why we should also double our efforts in tracking down King Raizen's old friends." It was clear that Shuichi was trying to encourage him.

A fire sparked in Yusuke's eyes. "Yes! We haven't lost yet! We can do this!" Yusuke gave the redhead a big pat on the back. "Thank you!"

"We will find a way to overcome this." Shuichi smiled politely then sat back down at his desk to tinker with the jars of strange substances.

"What's all this?" Having let his load off on his adviser, Yusuke now turned his attention back to Shuichi's lab. It was the first thing he noticed when he entered the room after all.

"An experiment. I'm making a potion."

"Yah ok. What for?"

"To make me stronger, so I won't be a burden."

Yusuke have never seen Shuichi be so self-conscious about his lack of power. "You're not. You're the smartest person here. I don't know what I would do without you." Not sure how to comfort him, Yusuke gave his adviser another big pat on his back causing Shuichi to spill a small jar of liquid.

Shuichi gave a little yelp then quickly dabbed his desk with a rag. "Please understand, this is something I must work on. And I do hope you can honor my request to not be disturbed from now on," said Shuichi, sounding wary and exasperated.

Feeling a little ashamed that he had been intruding, Yusuke bowed in apology. The redhead did look quite haggard. Besides, he'd always been a very private person. Realizing that he might have agitated his most trusted adviser, the muzoku king tried to lighten the mood the only way he knew how: throw on his enthusiastic demeanor. "Okay! You do whatever you gotta do. I'm gonna go scare off Mukuro!"

With that, he quickly retreated out of Shuichi's room and slammed the door, only to poke his head in again a short moment after. He pointed at the plate of pheasant. "Don't forget to eat!"

The redhead nodded in acknowledgement but didn't look up from his work.

* * *

Author's Note:

*2DK is a two bedroom Japanese apartment.

Sorry this chapter was a little slow! The next chapter should be at a much faster pace.


	9. Chapter 9

*Standard Disclaimers Apply* This chapter: implied Mukuro X Kurama and Yomi X Kurama

Once I started writing this chapter, I couldn't stop until it was finished and published. Hope you enjoy it!

* * *

"Ten days." Hiei said.

"What?" Mukuro arched her eyebrow.

"Ten days." Hiei repeated. "That's what the fox asked me to tell you. Nine days, if you count the amount of time I needed to complete my mission and return."

Completing the mission hadn't taken very much of his time, especially after Youko Kurama told him where to find the other camps. The delay was caused by the fox's request.

It turned out that Kurama was looking for a hidden building deep in Gandaran territory. But without any objects to launch the search off of, it had been next to impossible for the jagan to find the building. The fox had asked if the jagan was only effective if it had a physical clue. When Hiei had told him no, even a scent or a memory could help, the fox had slashed his own arm, letting the blood flow freely out of the wound. The fox had explained that his blood carried a strange chemical scent that the building he needed to find also carried. Armed with the olfactory information, Hiei had managed to locate the building after a very lengthy scan with his jagan. Whoever the owner of this building was, he or she did not wanted it to be found. It was located up in the Tempest Mountains of Gandara and concealed in an ancient forest. Having repaid half of his debt to the fox, Hiei had flitted northward to complete his mission.

"Nine days then." Mukuro's voice brought Hiei back to the present.

"Woman, what are you and the fox up to?" Hiei gave Mukuro a disapproving glare.

"I will tell you when I deem it appropriate," Mukuro retorted bluntly. "Do not question me."

"Don't make me use my jagan on you," threatened Hiei. Though he had never asked for it, he was Mukuro's heir after all. What kind of heir would he be if he had no idea what his King was planning?

"Hmph. I'd like to see you try. Your jagan is not strong enough to invade my thoughts."

Not getting the answers he wanted, Hiei flitted out of Mukuro's quarters with a dirty look. Determined to get to the bottom of this, he started to keep a close eye on all activities, especially Mukuro's activities, in the ten day period.

**Day One**

The day Hiei saw the fox. Asides from the two strange favors, nothing significant happened. As he was scanning for the building Kurama was looking for, he briefly tried to penetrate the youko's mind with the jagan. Taking advantage of the fact that the fox was distracted, he managed to slide in through a little crack, but the fox quickly caught him and kicked him out. After he found the building and informed the fox of its location, they parted ways.

**Day Two**

Hiei returned to Mukuro's castle and delivered both his update on the Gandaran camps and the fox's message. Since Mukuro wouldn't give him any information on her plans, he vented his pent up frustration on chocolate cakes and terrorized the servants with his foul mood.

**Day Three**

Mukuro invited Hiei to train at the borders near Tourin. She decided it was also appropriate for their troops to conduct a military exercise and made them practice charges and ambushes before she turned her attention to Hiei. Still angry at Mukuro for keeping him in the dark, Hiei sparred with her at full power. He even unleashed his Dragon of Darkness and absorbed it to boost his power. The two of them fought fiercely and even managed to level a hill. In the end, Hiei didn't win. The angry jaganshi decided he needed to train harder.

**Day Four**

Having absorbed his dragon and used up his stamina in the process, Hiei had no choice but to hibernate for a full day. He had a disturbing dream of the fox being wedged between Mukuro and Yomi, the three of them fusing together into a twisted tangle before morphing into a moaning monster.

**Day Five**

When he finally awoke, the first thing he did was check on Mukuro, the nightmare had made an impression on him. He caught her directing a courier to deliver a communication orb but was unable to intercept the message.

Later that day, he felt three consecutive blasts of incredible citrusy demon energy coming from Tourin. Yusuke must be getting stronger. Hiei asked Mukuro what she thought of that display of power. She simply shrugged and said that Yusuke is too predictable and easy to provoke. Inspired by Yusuke's growth in energy levels, Hiei spent the rest of his day training while also keeping his jagan open to track what Mukuro was doing. She must have been aware of this because she spent the rest of her day with her male courtesans. Hiei had no interest in seeing her fornicate, so he closed his jagan mid-way through the first tryst.

**Day Six**

Once again, Mukuro wanted to the troops to conduct some military exercises. Returning to the site of the hill they had flattened three days ago, the troops performed an extensive blitz exercise. This was Hiei's specialty, as he was of the personal opinion that lightening fast speed, well-coordinated maneuvers, and the shock of sudden violence is the best way to beat an enemy, both physically and psychologically. Excited by the exercises, he commanded the troops to perform additional raiding formation drills.

Perhaps stirred by his rare show of passion, Mukuro once again invited Hiei to spar. Hiei concluded that she must have been inspired by Yusuke as well. It wasn't a surprise to the jaganshi because as they felt the day before, Yusuke's raw power was indeed impressive. It would be a pleasure to fight the Tourinese King once the boy-king gained better control of his powers. This time, the general was reluctant to use his dragon because he knew it would cause him to hibernate, rendering him incapable of monitoring his king. Remarkably, he found himself more interested in discovering her ploys than winning.

That night, Shigure returned from his mission with 24 barrier creating demons in tow. Hiei was surprised it took the surgeon so long, but then Hiei had the added advantage of a jagan. Mukuro challenged these demons to produce a barrier that barred all foreign material (with the exception of oxygen) into an enclosed area. Then, once the technique was established, they were to work together to create a mega-barrier that would cover an immense area. It was becoming apparent to Hiei that Mukuro was preparing for war. With Raizen dead, Tourin was an easy target, but it was unlike Mukuro to bully weaklings. Yet, on the Gandaran front, save for the useless little camps scattered around the border, Yomi had made no move to provoke a confrontation. What did Mukuro expect to happen on day ten?

**Day Seven**

Hiei woke up on day seven to the vibrations of another three consecutive energy blasts. Yusuke was really getting quite trigger happy. Hiei did a rough estimate of the Tourinese king's power and came to the realization that it measured roughly at 4 million. Hiei changed his mind about considering Tourin an easy target. At full power, he himself measured roughly 1.8 million in youki. This was really high for someone his age and he knew that he was considered a prodigy in many circles, nevertheless, he had some catching up to do.

**Day Eight**

Although Hiei had badly wanted to train in private, he didn't wanted to cease his observation of Mukuro. Instead, he invited Mukuro to watch him train and give him some guidence on his technique and power control. Mukuro helpfully pointed out a few mistakes she had caught him making when they sparred. Hiei then spent the rest of the day concentrating on obliterating those bad habits.

**Day Nine**

As he was heading out to an isolated patch of forest he liked to use as his training grounds, he intercepted a courier on his way to deliver a communication orb and a small parchment to Mukuro. Hiei unrolled the parchment to discover a map. Unable to view the communication orb without destroying it, he took it upon himself to make the delivery. He had to make sure that he was present when the message was played.

Mukuro wasn't even surprised that the message was delivered by Hiei instead of the messenger. She must have realized that he's been monitoring her closely for the past week.

Briefly, she looked like she was considering asking Hiei to leave so that she could watch the message privately. But then she probably came to the realization that since Hiei was aware of the message, he could easily use his jagan to spy on her.

She threw the orb at a bare wall where it shattered to the ground. An image started to form where the orb first made contact. As the image slowly focused, Hiei realized with a start that the message was from Yomi.

"_Greetings Mukuro,_

_It was an immense surprise to hear from you. It seems that things have been interesting in Alaric. By the by, please accept my condolences for the captains you lost to that simpleton Yusuke. I'd imagine that you will take your vengeance shortly as I've been sensing quite a bit of activity on the border you share with Tourin. Perhaps you've grown sick of Tourin's pacifist attitude? It was a worthy adversary when our dear friend, Raizen, was still alive. Now, it is being ruled by a simpleton with more demon energy than he knew how to control. Do advise me when you finally decide to get rid of that half-mazoku eye sore. I'm of the opinion that he is tarnishing our reputation as mazoku._

_I trust that you enjoyed the company of my fox, he smelled strongly of you when he returned to be with his true master. Don't mind him too much, he's a fickle butterfly that likes to flutter from flower to flower. Make no mistake though, he only hungers for my nectar. Should our negotiation go well though, I'd be more than happy to share._

_By the way, congratulations on the successor. I've felt his power and would love to meet him in person. However, you may need to revoke his appointment as heir if you wish me to accept your proposal. Won't you agree that the heir for all of Makai be chosen by both its King and its Queen?_

_This brings me to the core of this message, I've heard your proposal and is interested in learning more. Could I suggest meeting in person to discuss your proposition in detail? There are many elements we need to review and I feel strongly that the final arrangement must be agreeable for the both of us. I suppose we should meet in neutral territory? Attached to this message is a map of the no man's land between the northern borders of our territories. I hope you don't mind desserts. Pick a day, I will be at the designated location. Feel free to bring Hiei._"

Signalling the end of the message, the image of Yomi dissolved from the wall. Hiei immediately turned to Mukuro, "What did you propose?"

"A union."

"You mean a marriage?"

"Marriage, merger, mating, alliance, coupling, consortium, partnership - whatever you want to call it. It's all the same to me." Mukuro answered with an air of nonchalance.

"As your heir, did it not cross your mind to discuss these matters with me?" Even though Hiei never planned on being successor to Mukuro's empire, (besides, he expected Mukuro to live another few hundred years which means being heir doesn't actually mean anything), he couldn't help but feel betrayed by how secretive Mukuro have been.

"That is what we are doing right now, isn't it?"

"Why are you doing this?"

"I've always longed to unify Makai. If my proposal is accepted, it will help me achieve this goal."

"There are other ways. You have the strongest army in Makai. Why not exercise that power?"

"There are too many factors at play. Yomi is not what he seems. I believe he has a hidden trump card, one that he might be itching to use."

"So the fox sent you a warning." Hiei concluded, satisfied that he finally understood the meaning of that cryptic message.

"Yes, I needed to dissuade Yomi from taking action."

"Why would the fox help us? _He's the butterfly to Yomi's nectar after all_," Hiei spat. That distasteful metaphor left a bitter taste in his mouth.

"For whatever reason, the fox does not want Yomi to use his trump card." Hiei recalled Kurama's explanation of his disagreement on Yomi's military tactics.

"The people of Alaric will not be pleased if your proposal is accepted. They value their independent and heritage."

"I will deal with them when the time comes. First, I need to deal with Yomi."

"Hn." Curiosity now fulfilled, Hiei flitted out of the Mukuro's quarter.

**Day Ten**

Exactly as Mukuro intended, nothing happened on day ten. Retiring from his role as lead investigator, Hiei spent the whole day napping in his favorite tree.

* * *

Author's Notes: Hope you all enjoyed it!

I'm slowly coming to the realization that this project is quite ambitious for a first time fan fic writer. Perhaps I should have stuck with a one chapter story...but this was screaming to be written, so here I am.

I have an idea of where this is all going to go but there are many kinks to work out in between. I also have an idea of what the climax of the story should be like, but it may involve a disturbing scene. Any thoughts on that?

Also, do you think Yusuke should find out about Shuichi withholding his true identity from him this entire time? How should Yusuke react?

Anyway, enough rambling. Please review! I need your ideas!


	10. Chapter 10

**Standard Disclaimers Apply** Woohoo! Another chapter! I thought I was losing steam...but apparently not! I felt like I haven't spent enough time in this story on Yusuke, hopefully this makes up for it!

* * *

There was nothing like the feeling of power fragments drizzling gently to the ground like early spring rain. Each spirit gun blast was as thrilling as the largest fireworks exploding in the night sky, trails of smoke and ashes cascading a refreshing scent of freshly cut grass and citrus over him. Yusuke stood in the clearing feeling his own powers rain down upon him. Eye closed, he allowed his other senses to take over. Every speckle of ki that touched his skin warmed him, every breath revitalized his spirit. The remnant energy of his blast swirled around him like a protective embrace with the breeze.

As Shuichi had likely intended, the concentration ring provided a big boost to Yusuke's morale. As soon as he had received it, Yusuke ran out to the forest to experiment. With the ring on his finger, he posed with his arm outstretched, his right thumb and index finger extended making a gun, and concentrated his energy on the ring. Feeling his energy surge towards the ring, Yusuke released it all at once. The force of the energy caused his body to lurch in backward momentum and Yusuke had to take several steps back before he could regain his balance. Above him, the spirit gun blast brightened the sky with a fluorescent blue glow. Excited by the display of power, Yusuke fired the two remaining shocks consecutively.

Confirming Shuichi's warning, using the concentration ring was taxing on his body and Yusuke spent the entire next day in bed recovering. As soon as he felt well enough again, the pumped half-mazoku fired another three consecutive shots into the air towards the Alarican border. That time, Kuwabara had accompanied him to watch the blasts. Amazed by the show of power, the carrot top had tried to used the ring as well, but the two of them quickly found out that it only worked with demon power and not spirit power.

Yusuke continued to follow the pattern of using the ring and resting on alternating days until over a week had passed. The Tourinese king could feel himself growing stronger every time he used the ring.

One day, Kuwabara visited him while he was in recovery, bringing news that Mukuro's troops were performing blitz exercises when he was sleeping. In response, the demon monks departed to search for Raizen's fighting buddies, in hopes of gaining their support and building up their power base for the potential battles ahead.

Kuwabara then invited Yusuke to train with him, but Yusuke was too drained by the concentration ring to even to retort with snappy comebacks for the carrot-top's insults. Perhaps disappointed by the lack of banter, the tall boy retreated from Yusuke's quarters with the open invitation to join him at the castle library when he felt better.

Shuichi also stopped by a few times to check on him. The redhead was looking increasingly wary and on one occasion, he looked outright unwell. The sparkle in his emerald eyes was missing, his hands were cold to the touch, his red hair was in a tangle as if he hadn't brushed it for days, and he looked paler than before. When asked about his health, Shuichi explained that he have been experimenting his potions on himself, to varying results. Yusuke was completely appalled that the redhead was putting his human body under such strain and offered to be guinea pig instead, but Shuichi reminded him that his half-demon body would react differently to the chemicals.

Today, Yusuke decided to retain his energy instead of firing all of the spirit gun shots in his daily quota. To make up for his absence over the last week, he decided to grace Kuwabara with his presence by taking up his offer to join him in the library. He found both of his human advisers huddled around a table reviewing reference material. Stacked neatly next to Shuichi were a couple volumes on botany and pharmacognosy. At the moment, however, the two tall boys had placed their heads together over tomes on spiritual energy and ki manipulation.

"...so if your goal is to both defend and attack simultaneously, your focus should be on technique rather than increasing power." Yusuke overheard Shuichi explaining. Not realizing his king's presence, the redhead pulled a book from the messy center pile. "This is what you need to study…"

Peeking over the carrot top's left shoulder, Yusuke shouted, "Oi Kuwabara! Didn't know you were such a bookworm!"

"Moron! You trying to burst my eardrums?" Kuwabara jerked away with a hand on his left ear and a kick towards Yusuke's direction.

Yusuke deftly dodged the kick and settled next to Shuichi, leaning forward with his elbows on the table. Still dodging kicks and punches, he thumbed through a few pages of the thick book Shuichi have just extracted from the pile. "What is this? Some kind of encyclopedia?"

"Yes actually," said Shuichi, flipping the book to a section that focuses specifically on spiritual combat techniques. "This reference book records known fighting techniques—"

"Cool! There are diagrams too!" Yusuke interrupted, trying to grab the book while kicking Kuwabara's chair out from underneath him.

Faster than Yusuke could see, Shuichi snatched the book from beneath his hands and gave him a stern look that Yusuke was very much used to seeing from his teachers. Yusuke gaped at the sudden show of speed. The redhead ignored him and turned back to the carrot-top who is now sitting on the other side of Shuichi, as far away from Yusuke as the small table allowed, "as I was about to explain just now, Kuwabara san, while your brawler fighting style is appropriate in street fights, this style would not be useful in a battle situation. I suggest you review the techniques in this book to see what is appropriate for you and then adapt them to suit your abilities." He pointed out a few specific techniques to the carrot top before turning his attention to Yusuke.

"Yusuke san, any reason why you didn't use up all three blast of the spirit gun today?" Yusuke made a mental note of both the redhead's increase in speed and his return to health.

"I was saving up my energy to brawl with Kuwabara. I think using the concentration ring is making me stronger. Is that a known effect?" Absently, Yusuke took the ring off to spin it on the table.

"Perhaps it is awakening your awareness of your own ki," Shuichi leaned forward to inspect Yusuke, and the dark hair youth caught a scent of fresh dew and roses. Had Shuichi always smelled this good? "I've always felt that your biggest problem was awareness rather than power levels. Are you able to feel your energy swirling around you?"

"Yeah, I feel it," Yusuke exclaimed, thinking about how much he enjoyed the feeling of his own energy raining down on him earlier that day. "I smell it too, it has a distinct smell that I've never noticed before." Wait. Is that what Shuichi's smell is? His energy signature? That can't be it. As far as Yusuke knew, Shuichi lost his demonic powers when he was reborn as a human.

"Well, it certainly feels stronger. You're radiating more energy and the waves feel more stable than before."

"So how do I become more aware of my ki?"

Shuichi pulled out another book from the messy pile. "Perhaps meditation would help."

Looking up from his own book, Kuwabara gave a hearty laugh. "Meditation? Him? You're kidding me right? Urameshi can never sit still!"

Yusuke gave him a jab on the arm. "Shut up. Shuichi's getting to the good part." Deep down though, he knew the carrot top was right, he was definitely lacking in the attention span department.

"Alright then," Shuichi replaced the book. "Think about it as self-observation instead. The first step is to be cognizant of how your mood affects your energy levels."

"Ok, sounds reasonable enough."

"Once you grasps the unique configuration of your muscles when your energy is most stable, you need to reach within to find your hidden demon and communicate with that ki."

"You can communicate with ki?"

"I believe for someone half-human like you, it would be a demonic voice in your head or perhaps the feeling of ki swirling within you. The goal is to find that connection and open it. Once you are accustomed to it, summoning and controlling your ki should be as easy as turning on a faucet."

"That's too abstract." Wanting to test his theory on Shuichi's returning demon energy, he commanded, "Show me!"

"You know that's not possible," Shuichi chided. "I no longer hold any demon energy of my own. Just try being more self-aware. Could you do that for me?" Shuichi pleaded with a look of innocence in his eyes, reminding Yusuke of pet adoption posters or puppy youtube videos.

"Fine. I'll give it a shot." Yusuke folded his arms on the desk and rested his head on them. He turned to look at Shuichi who was now skimming through a book. Is it possible that Shuichi's demon energy was slowly coming back due to all tests he'd been running on himself? "Have you figured out your potion yet?"

"I believe I am getting closer. I will be running more experiments."

Before Yusuke could inquire about the effects of Shuichi's research in greater detail, the redhead continued, "I may also have to return to ningenkai. Kuwabara san, summer vacation must be over for you soon as well."

The tall boy nodded in confirmation. He was clearly fixated in the book before him and was making notes on a parchment.

Gesturing to Kuwabara, Yusuke said, "I don't care about the moron over here, but you not being here is gonna suck." His mind wandered to how he was going to handle the imminent war without his best friend and best adviser by his side. Well, at least the concentration ring have achieved its purpose of buying them more time, Mukuro have not taken any action in the last 3 days. His thoughts drifted to the monks. What's taking them so long to locate Raizen's old fighting partners?

"Hey, any word from Hokushin?"

Shuichi looked extremely apologetic, "I'm afraid I've been held up in my room until today. I don't have any news."

Kuwabara looked up from his book and shook his head, "Sorry, Urameshi. No news. I take it they haven't found anyone."

"I'm sure they would eventually find them," Shuichi was trying to reassure Yusuke by patting lightly on his shoulder."If not, there's actually a group of demons I'd like to approach when I return to ningenkai. They've been living in peace amongst humans and might be open to helping us given our stance against killing and eating humans."

Tucking his two pharmacognosy books under his arm, Shuichi got up from the table. "Now if you'd excuse me, I have to return to my experiments. In the meantime, you two should train."

Yusuke nodded. At the very least, his energy levels have been steadily increasing. Watching Kuwabara studying keenly at the table, he became aware that just like him, his human advisers were working to increase their powers for the potential war. Determined not to let them down, Yusuke took Shuichi's advice to heart. Somehow, he was certain, things will work themselves out. If not, he would_ make_ it work out.

* * *

Two days later, Hokushin returned in the middle of the night. Yusuke had spent the last two days being more conscious of his own powers. To his surprise, his energy was the most stable when he feels challenged, and not so when he is calm or excited. Since then, he'd been trying to break down the characteristics of each muscle component that helped him achieve energy stability. He'd also become more aware of the demon energies around him, that was how he was alerted to Hokushin's return.

Yusuke was in his quarters playing video games with Kuwabara. As inappropriate as it seems for Yusuke to be gaming while his country was facing a crisis, the first person shooter game helped him harness the feeling of being challenged and allowed him to commit the muscle configuration to memory. Noticing an erratic ki signature smelling of sandalwood and incense, Yusuke paused the game and yelled at the closed door before Hokushin even had a chance to knock, "Welcome back!"

Hokushin gave a deep bow. "Your Highness. Kuwabara san." He looked like he was breathless from running, there were beads of sweat on his brow.

"Hey Hokushin!" Kuwabara gave the monk a wave, getting up to fetch the exhausted adviser a drink.

"Glad to see you back! Where are the other two? Slacking off?"

"Your Highness, they are still conducting the search for King Raizen's old comrades," Hokushin stepped forward to kneel next to his king. Yusuke could see the apprehension in his eyes. "I come bearing other news…ah, much appreciated, Kuwabara san," Hokushin thanked the tall boy when he returned with a glass of water.

Yusuke gave his demon adviser time to take a long swig of water before nodding for him to continue.

"We chanced upon a Gandaran messenger with a communication orb and intercepted it," Hokushin started. "Long story short, Alaric and Tourin are forming an alliance through the marriage of their kings."

"No way!" Yusuke and Kuwabara both shouted at the same time.

"I wish this was a jest, however, once we had watched it, it became clear that the communication orb was a wedding invitation."

"That's why Mukuro has been so quiet the past five days." Yusuke concluded. Even though this alliance was bad news for Tourin, Yusuke felt oddly collected. His soaring confidence buffered the impact. "Are we invited?"

Taken aback by the question, Hokushin stammered, "I..I don't believe so, your Highness. I can't imagine why we would be invited."

"That's too bad," Yusuke mused, stretching his arms skyward and arching his back to work out the knots in his muscles. "It would have been a good opportunity to take them both out."

"This is a serious matter, Your Highness."

"He wasn't joking. He's gotten stronger," Kuwabara came to Yusuke's defense. "And I've been working on my techniques."

Hokushin paused, Yusuke could tell that he was assessing their energy levels. "Yes, Your Highness, you have in fact gained better control of your powers since we last met. Nevertheless, attacking your hosts at a wedding is inadvisable and poor etiquette."

"There is an upside, however," Hokushin continued as Yusuke and Kuwabara cackled at his comment, saying something about Yusuke having the etiquette of a monkey. "The Alarican army is assumably divided by this news. Alaricans have always been proud of their independence and warrior culture. Mukuro may have a rebellion on her hands, and will be too distracted to consider us."

* * *

Author's Notes: I'm still wanting to hear feedback on whether a disturbing scene is appropriate in the climax of this story. Also, I've decided how Yusuke would find out about Shuichi's identity. I hope that scene won't be too difficult to write.

Until next time!


	11. Chapter 11

**Standard Disclaimers Apply**

Thank you KyoHana for your kind review. I hope the rest of this story will live up to your expectations. I was indeed trying to fit in some KxH, but it's going to be difficult as you will soon see.

Also, big thanks to TheNotSoNiceLibrarian for all your previous reviews. They really meant a lot to a first time fan fic writer and kept me going when the going got tough.

* * *

After days of analysing antidotes, experimenting with different herbs, testing various cures on Makai animals, and finally testing them on himself, Kurama made a breakthrough in creating the antiviral cures he needed. While the previous versions of the elixirs made him feeble and feverish, the latest versions have not caused any negative side effects. An examination of his own blood revealed that, at the very least, the drugs have stopped the virus within him from reproducing.

Thanks to Hiei and his jagan, the fox was able to pinpoint the biological weapons research facilities that Yomi had kept hidden from him for so long. He had an inkling that it was hidden deep in the Tempest Mountains, but was never able to find its exact location until now. The violent storms that surround the remote mountain range not only disperses ki but also fills the air with storm energy, making it rather difficult to track or trace anything within it.

Once he had the location, he utilized his talents as Makai's most infamous thief to obtain samples of viruses and antidotes. He also took the liberty of perusing the research logs and notes, careful to replace them once he had the information he needed. Soon, Yomi would know of his betrayal, but until then, it wouldn't do to leave evidence of his visit behind.

Afflicting each member of his family with a different strain of virus was an ingenious move on Yomi's part, afterall, it was Kurama who taught him to diversify, never relying on a single tactic. As Kurama's second-in-command during their thieving days, Yomi was willful and rash, never taking Kurama's lectures seriously. Centuries apart have changed him, it was clear now that Yomi had finally taken his lessons to heart. No matter how many tests Kurama conducts on himself, there was no way for the youko to ascertain the effectiveness of his cures on his human family. His only choice was to feed them different drugs until he found a combination that would save them. Should the cures fail, at least he had the recipes for the temporary antidotes.

Curing his family was only the first step of his plan. Even though Kurama was no longer the ruthless demon he used to be and even though Yomi was once his comrade, this entire ordeal had been too undignified — his humiliation too great — for him to forgive. The only way for Kurama to truly heal is to administer the complete and utter destruction of Yomi. His pride could not suffer this offense to be without retribution.

Besides, he had even more to protect now than he did two years ago when he was first infected with the virus. Kurama had never expected to genuinely hit it off with the boisterous son of Raizen that Yomi dispatched him to investigate and befriend. But behind the rough exterior, Yusuke was honest, open, and easy to like. It had been eye opening to watch him grow from a street punk running a ramen stall to the head of a state who fights to protect his people in a world he doesn't quite understand.

Kurama also liked Kuwabara for his honor and naiveté, Hokushin and the demon monks for their unfaltering loyalty, Mukuro for her good humor, fierce independence, and inner strength, and Hiei — well, Hiei was a little different than the others. He was more like a prey that Kurama enjoyed toying with than anything else. Regardless, there was a vulnerability and a longing for connection beneath Hiei's facade of aloofness that Kurama wanted to both protect and understand.

With the gears of his plan mostly in place, there was not much for Kurama to do in Makai but to wait for the events to unfold. Eventually, he would have to return, but for now, his place was in Ningenkai where he could watch over his human family. Should he ever need to contact anyone in Makai, he had a web of vines that could pass messages to a select handful of strategic locations and people. To prevent his messages from getting into the wrong hands — the wedding invitation Hokushin intercepted being a prime example — Kurama preferred using unconventional methods rather than couriers, except for the time he chanced upon Hiei at the border. Hiei would be enraged if he knew this, but that was, in truth, a deliberate meeting, he needed the foul-tempered general's jagan after all. Besides, it was amusing to trick his dark hair prey into thinking he was the hunter, not the prey. He'd even made it more believable by letting the compact demo put a blade to his throat! But of course, that was definitely not nearly as amusing as watching Hiei perform mental gymnastics to convince himself that he was, in truth, _not _pleased to see the fox.

Shifting his thoughts from Hiei back to the present, Kurama realized there were still some loose ends he had to tie up before returning to ningenkai. First, he had to contact Raizen's old comrades. This group of unassuming but powerful demons were a wild card that all three Makai kings wanted to control. They have since come to realize that these nonviolent demons would prefer not to get involved should war break out — ok maybe not Yusuke, poor Seitei and Touou were still trying in vain to locate them. What none of them realized, however, was that these demons would gladly fight for peace. Kurama fully intended to exploit this sentiment.

He summoned a small blossom from a common Makai bindweed and carefully embedded a message on the delicate white petals before turning it back into a bud. Cloning the bud until he had a total of nine, Kurama walked to his window and began to attach each bud to the bindweed vines that clung to the castle walls. Once all the buds were secured, they slowly slithered down the vines and into the greenery below, now safely in his vine communication web. It was not the fastest way to communicate, each bud taking up to four days to get to its destination when a messenger would have taken only two, but Mukuro had afforded him the luxury of time.

One task down, Kurama now turned his attention on Yusuke. The Tourinese King is a key component of his plan, and it was important that Kurama gave him all the tools he needed to fulfill his role.

Kurama found Yusuke sitting cross legged in the castle lawn staring into space. Taking a moment to compose himself and put on his gentle Shuichi facade, Kurama quietly approached his friend. Without turning, Yusuke asked, "Shuichi?"

"Yusuke san," Kurama sat down across Yusuke in a proper seiza*, folding his legs underneath his body and resting his back on his heels. Clearly, Yusuke had taken his coaching seriously and was growing more conscious of the demon energies around him. Inwardly, Kurama cursed himself for allowing his ki signature to show. He hasn't been as careful as he should have been. "You knew it was me."

"No one else around here smell like roses." Yusuke turned to look at him, studying his face with rare intensity. "You've been hiding something from me. You're not supposed to have any ki."

Suddenly finding himself caught up in his web of lies, Shuichi made an effort to keep his body language calm and collected. Internally, he was struggling with his next course of action. Could he stand to lie to his friend any longer? Would Yusuke's honest nature allow him to accept his reasoning for the deception? And most importantly: Would coming clean dash his carefully laid plans?

"I sincerely apologize, King Yusuke," Still in a seiza, he bowed down deeply in perfect Japanese form, extending his hands palm down on the ground before him, thumbs and index fingers forming a perfect triangle, and lowering his nose into the very center, whilst keeping his neck and back completely straight. That seemed to have caught Yusuke off guard. Considering his lower class human background, it was likely that no one had ever given Yusuke such a deep respectful bow**, in fact, it was likely that no one had ever addressed Yusuke this way either.

"Hey Hey Shuichi! No need for the formalities! Get up!" Clearly uncomfortable with this show of regret, Yusuke reached forward to touch Kurama's shoulders and urged him to get up.

Receiving the permission to raise his head, Kurama settled back in a sitting position, expression still full of remorse. "King Yusuke —"

"Don't King Yusuke me!" The dark hair boy looked completely flustered.

"Yusuke san," Kurama settled for the less formal title, his eyes casted downward to avoid Yusuke's concerned gaze. "I've been untruthful."

"Whatever it is, just tell me. We'll work things out."

"I've been hiding important information from you. To start, my ki has indeed slowly returned, possibly due to the potions I've been working on. But I've been apprehensive about this energy and thus did not inform you." Kurama summoned up a blush as bright as his hair. Pausing, he searched Yusuke's face to gauge his response — _good, he was buying it_ — before continuing on with his real confession, "More importantly, I have information about Yomi that I've failed to report. Before I disclose it, please understand that my highest priority is to protect you, and the last thing I want was for you to get hurt —"

"Cut to the chase, Shuichi!" Unquestionably, Yusuke's curiosity had been piqued. Kurama held his undivided attention now.

"Yomi is the one behind all the ningen kidnappings, they've been testing biological weapons on both—" Before Kurama could finish his sentence, Yusuke pounced on him. Falling backwards, Yusuke pinned him to the ground by straddling him and clasping Kurama's wrists tightly with his hands.

"You mean innocent people are being experimented on and you allowed it to happen?" Yusuke yelled, visibly shakened and fuming. "Why didn't you tell me?" Pinning both of the redhead's wrist above his head with one hand, Yusuke drew back his right arm, hand in a fist, ready to strike.

"There wasn't anything you could do!" Kurama confessed, a pleading expression on his face. "If you'd gotten involved, your entire country would be pulled into the conflict. More innocents would suffer!" At this, Yusuke dropped his arm and loosened his hold on his advisers wrists.

"I'll find a way to destroy the lab unnoticed. The monks can create a ki barrier that hides our energy signature, Yomi wouldn't be wiser." Yusuke stood up, feet still planted firmly on either side of the redhead's hips. Staring down at Kurama, Yusuke demanded, "Where is it?"

"Please," begged Kurama, still wearing his Shuichi facade, propping himself up with one arm and reaching for Yusuke with his free arm to grab his shirttail. "It's not the right time." Yusuke wasn't strong enough for this task yet. He would need to become more powerful and he would need help, help that Kurama was in the process of arranging.

"Where—is—it?" Yusuke enunciated the words one by one with clenched jaws, his ki aura fluctuating wildly.

"Please, Yusuke san," Kurama beseeched, knuckles white from how tightly he was clutching the angry king's shirt. "you mustn't—"

"WHERE IS IT?" Yusuke bellowed, tattooed markings slowly forming on his face and body, violent ki churning about him, right index finger pointing at the redhead with a scarlet sphere of energy slowly forming at the tip, one foot on the redhead's lower abdomen holding him down. _Well, that sure escalated quickly._ Kurama could not decide whether it was fortunate or unfortunate that the half-mazoku's demonic senses have finally awakened.

"Stop, Urameshi!" Kuwabara came running forward, the turbulent energy creating a forcefield that made it difficult for the tall boy to approach. He cried out again, trying to get Yusuke's attention but Kurama knew that Yusuke no longer had the presence of mind to hear.

Hokushin also appeared, likely alerted by the sudden explosion of ki in the air, but did not have much more success than Kuwabara in reaching the center of the energy vortex. He dropped to the ground, apparently aware that the fastest way to reach Yusuke in this cyclone of ki was to crawl to him. Kurama knew that Hokushin would never reach them in time. The ball of energy was now the size of a basketball. Kurama released Yusuke's shirt and raised his arms defensively in preparation for the point-blank shot, long crimson red hair whipping madly about him.

The carrot top screamed at the top of his lungs, "STOP IT, BAKA! HE'LL NEVER SURVIVE YOUR SPIRIT GUN!"

Yusuke fired.

The beam of scarlet energy burst forth from Yusuke's index finger and hit Kurama squarely in the chest.

* * *

By the time Yusuke came to his senses, he had already fired his spirit gun. He watched the crimson ball strike Shuichi with a loud roar, engulfing the frail human in an eruption of light so blinding that he had to shield his eyes. The resulting shockwave propelled him both skyward and backwards and churned up a thick cloud of grass and soil. In the background, Yusuke could hear Kuwabara cursing and Hokushin shouting for healers.

As soon as the light faded and the dust settled, Yusuke turned back to look down at where Shuichi had been. In lieu of the beautiful redhead, whose crimson hair had haloed about him on the ground in perfect contrast to the green lawn just a moment ago, the mazoku found dirt. The force of the spirit gun had created a crater the size of a tennis court. There was no trace of Shuichi, no blood, no strands of red hair, but a faint smell of roses mixed in with his own signature of citrus and ginger all around them. Yusuke tried to swallow, but found his throat dry. He had _disintegrated_ Shuichi. He dropped onto his knees and pounded the ground, his humanity returning to him and tattooed markings slowly disappearing.

All Shuichi had wanted to do was protect him from his own recklessness. The redhead was right to withhold information from him, because clearly, he possessed no self control. He would have blown up the research center without considering the ramifications to both his country and the people who've been infected by Yomi's experiments. He would have dragged his countrymen through a war that they were ill-prepared for. He would have sacrificed hundreds of thousands of innocent demon lives for the simple reason that their king was a stubborn fool.

Shuichi knew all this. Shuichi tried to stop him. Shuichi paid for it with his life.

Banging his forehead violently on the ground, Yusuke wailed.

* * *

Author's Notes: Oh Yusuke, what have you done? I totally didn't intend on taking it this direction, but Yusuke had his own ideas and forced my hand.

Now I get to plan a royal Makai wedding! *rubs hands together* Time to get some inspiration from interesting wedding customs around the world. Any suggestions and ideas?

It's going to be a busy week at work. So the next chapter might have to wait until Thursday 10/24.

*Seiza is the japanese term for the traditional method of sitting on one's heels.

**Want to learn more about proper Japanese bowing? There's an interesting video on youtube by fujiyamafoundation that goes over all the methods of bowing in apology.


	12. Chapter 12

TheNotSoNiceLibrarian: Cliffies are evil but only if the story doesn't get updated. :D Don't worry, this chapter is chiffy-free.

KyoHana: The first part of this chapter is my way of punishing Yusuke for hurting Shuichi. I'm not happy he made me write that.

* * *

The forest was flattened in less than a second. Lakes evaporated. Animals that moved too slow extinguished in a sea of energy. Anything that still stood afterwards were pelted by a monsoon of ki. Everything it touched burned; Everything, except a single creature standing in the center of it all.

Yusuke was angry. He was angry at his demon father, at his human mother for sleeping with him, at being cursed with terrifying power. But most of all, he was angry at himself. He was, as his mother used to put it, a fucking idiot. He wanted to hurt himself. He deserved a good beating. He tried to punish himself, using his own ki, but every time he tried, the energy deflected off of him, leaving him unscathed.

"Damn this power, damn this shit, damn it all!" Yusuke shouted to nobody in particular.

He had vaporized Shuichi. He didn't even remember doing it. The last thing he remembered before the blast was standing over Shuichi trying to convince him that there was a way to destroy the research lab without Yomi knowing.

By the time he was aware of his own actions, Shuichi was already gone.

At first, he couldn't believe it. He thought Shuichi was playing a cruel trick on him. He must have survived the blast, his demonic powers were returning after all. He must have been hiding in his room, trying to lay low until Yusuke's anger dissipated, still working on his experiments until he perfected them. But Shuichi wasn't there. Yusuke had torn the room apart to make certain of it.

Maybe he was in ningenkai, checking on his parents and running the family business. But he wasn't there either. Yusuke had called every single Minamino family listed in the Osaka phone book, asking for Shuichi, but nobody had a Shuichi in their family.

Maybe he was laying in the forest, injured and helpless from the blast that propelled him deep into the woods. Maybe he was trying to crawl his way back to the castle, his human body too weak and too frail to take him back. Worse, maybe he was in a coma, unable to call for help. Yusuke organized a search party to check every nook and cranny of the forest within a 3 km radius of the blast.

While he was madly searching, eyes opened and alert but not really seeing, a voice spoke to him.

_He's not here, child._

Yusuke looked around. Everyone was preoccupied with searching. Some were shouting Shuichi's name, others were on all fours looking under bushes and shrubs, still others were climbing up the old growth that may be large enough to hold a human boy.

_He's gone, child. The voice spoke again._

"What are you yapping on about?" Yusuke shouted. A few demons in the search team peered up at him curiously.

_He's dead, child._

"Shuichi is not dead," Yusuke insisted, not noticing the strange looks he was getting.

_You killed him, child._

"It wasn't me. I was not myself." Yusuke denied, shaking his head to the voice in his head.

_It was you, child. You fired the spirit gun._

"I blacked out! I wouldn't have fired if I knew what I was doing."

_Don't deny it, child. You were just as aware as you were when you pressed him down and kissed him._

"I was drunk!"

_You liked it. You wanted to do it. You wanted to do it again. I know you did, child._

"I was drunk!" Yusuke asserted, again.

_You weren't drunk when you killed him._

"Listen to me! I wasn't in control of my own body!"

_Maybe not consciously. But you were in control subconsciously, child._

"Who the fuck are you to be telling me what I am, and what I'm not?"

_I know everything about you, child._

"The hell are you talking about?"

_I'm you, child. I'm your demon energy._

Suddenly it dawned on Yusuke that it was this side of him that took over when he blacked out.

"YOU'RE THE ONE WHO KILLED SHUICHI!" Yusuke bellowed in realization, feeling his rage growing, his aura swirling.

_We're one and the same, child. But you're weak and it's time I took over. _

"Shuddup! I'm gonna beat you to a bloody pulp. I'm gonna make you regret opening your damn mouth. I'm gonna make sure you never speak again," Yusuke seethed, his hair inexplicably bursting out of his hair into an untamed raven-colored mass, his energy flaring skyward forming a scarlet tornado. Everyone around him scattered.

_Yes, child. Free me! Free me, child! Free me!_

Just as he had a few days ago on the castle lawn, Yusuke released a torrent of energy. This time, it was not aimed at anything or anyone in particular. It was aimed at the world, at the helpless situation he'd found himself in, at his fate, at the demon within him.

* * *

When he came to, he was in his bed. Yusuke felt like he had been asleep for weeks. Near him, he could hear voices murmuring but couldn't make out all the words. The hushed voices, whoever they belong to, were speaking in a serious tones. Yusuke managed to catch some disjointed words: alliance, offense, disinherit, and Gandara. He turned his head towards the sounds, but a big mass of hair, _his_ big mass of hair was in the way. Had he taken his true mazoku form again? He checked his arm for markings and saw that they were faint, but there.

Yusuke vaguely recalled decimating the forest. The more he fought his demon side, the stronger and angrier he became. In the end, he consumed his energy stores and collapsed in a helpless, grief-stricken heap. Shuchi was dead and his demon side had killed him.

If only they'd never met. If only he'd never told Shuichi about his demon heritage. If only he'd never invited Shuichi to be his adviser. The redhead would still be alive now. He would still be turning heads every time he walked down the street, safe at home surrounded by —

"Urameshi?"

The voice jerked Yusuke out of his internal turmoil. Kuwabara, looking like he hadn't slept for days, appeared in his peripheral vision.

"Your Highness! You're awake!" Hokushin appeared on the other side of the bed, waving for servants to bring food and water.

Both of them looked absolutely spent, as if any moment now, one of them could pass out from sheer mental exhaustion. They've been worried about him, Yusuke realized. The two of them had been by his bedside, sentinel of both his sanity and his health. Then, a second thought hit Yusuke: he wasn't the only one who had lost a respected friend, these two were grieving as well. They have been by his side throughout his search for Shuichi. Finally, another thought: but here they are, still levelheaded, still running a country, and still preparing for a war. Yusuke sat up. No matter how sad or angry or depressed or in denial he was, one thing's for certain: an entire country was counting on him to set things right.

Yusuke scratched the back of his head and managed a sad grin, "Wow, I royally screwed things up this time, didn't I?"

Kuwabara was the first to speak, "Yah. I've always known you were a few sandwiches short of a picnic but I didn't expect you to be batshit insane." Contradictory to his words, the carrot top put his hand on Yusuke's shoulder in a show of support. "But hey, look at the bright side! At least there's no more forest to destroy."

"That's true, Your Highness. That was a very impressive display of power," Hokushin chimed in. "More than enough to rival Yomi and Mukuro. I can only imagine their shock when they felt that ki."

"Yah ok, but don't expect a replay anytime soon." Yusuke tried to run a hand through his locks but found that it was too unruly and tangled for his hand to budge even an inch. "Hey, can we cut this mess off?"

"Certainty, Your Highness." Turning, he gestured for the maids to bring a pair of scissors.

"Nah, keep it long, Urameshi! You look like a proper mazoku king," Kuwabara joked, tugging at the long locks and quickly realizing how tangled it is when his fingers were snared.

"No thanks. When have I ever looked a proper anything?" Yusuke countered. Then, pointing at his tattoo-esque markings on his body, Yusuke asked, "Why didn't these disappear this time?"

"It appears that your human side and demon side have merged." Hokushin observed.

"Oh yeah? That bastard was totally pushing my buttons," Yusuke casually confessed.

"What bastard?" Kuwabara asked.

"The voice in my head."

"Hey Hokushin, get a straitjacket over here. This one's still crazy."

"No, you idiot!" Yusuke smacked Kuwabara on the head. "Remember how Shuichi was telling me to reach within myself to find my hidden demon? Well, I did more than that! I beat that bastard down. He kept telling me to free him and I almost did, but in the end I absorbed him."

"Now that you mention it, Your Highness, it is evident that your human body has assimilated your demon powers." Hokushin examined Yusuke thoughtfully, "In the past, it felt to me like you were trying to maintain your humanity whilst trying to control the foreign powers within. It is apparent now that your demon powers are a natural extension of you, an appendage or a tool for you to use at will. The difference is palpable."

"Yah, something like that." Jumping out of bed, the raven haired boy started stretching his arms and legs, shaking out the knots in his muscles and getting his blood running. The servants have set out a chair in the middle of his room to serve as an impromptu barber station, complete with a warm beverage and light snacks.

Yusuke quickly slouched onto the chair, head leaning on the top and left ankle resting on right knee. Immediately, a group of servants starting fussing with his mane. "So, how long was I out for?"

"3-_freaking_-days, Urameshi!" Kuwabara exclaimed before sitting down backwards on a chair across from the mazoku king. He leaned his arms atop the back.

"Sorry! Needed my beauty sleep, ya know?" Turning to Hokushin, Yusuke asked, "So, what's new?"

"A lot, Your Highness." Hokushin took a big gulp of water, as if preparing for a long report. "First of all, Mukuro and Yomi's wedding is set for 4 days from now. Judging by the frantic pace of their courtship and timing of the ceremony, this is clearly a marriage of convenience, a symbol of their alliance against us. Our intelligence network informs us that it will be held in the Crystal Desert, an unclaimed region between the Alarican and Gandaran territories."

"I take it we're still not invited?" Yusuke half-joked, thinking it would be the perfect opportunity for him to destroy both of his enemies.

"I'm quite certain we're not."

"We're not the only ones who didn't get an invite though," Kuwabara added. "Most of the Alarican lords and ladies didn't either. Some of them are outright boycotting the ceremony. They're pissed at their king right now."

"Cause they hate Yomi?"

"It's because they'd rather stay independent," Hokushin answered. "The Alarican people are very proud, they would never bow down to Yomi."

"So why would Mukuro piss off half her country to marry this guy? What's her hidden agenda? She's stayed neutral for so long."

"That's exactly my thought. Either Mukuro knows something we don't know or Yomi is blackmailing her."

Yusuke recalled his last conversation with Shuichi and the laboratory he mentioned. Is it possible that Yomi is threatening Mukuro? No, that doesn't make sense. Yomi would sooner threaten Tourin or himself than Mukuro, considering her powerful army and neutral stance until recently. If Shuichi had known, it was entirely possible that Mukuro knew about the laboratory as well. Could it be possible that Mukuro wanted access to the technology?

Before Yusuke could verbalized these thoughts, he sensed a sudden spike of unrecognizable demon energy followed by loud rumbling that reminded him of a freight train. Outside, in the ruined forests surrounding the castle, a huge cyclone was making its way towards them. The servant that was cutting his hair froze mid-action before screaming hysterically. Those that stayed calm were working together to board up the windows. Undaunted, Yusuke stepped outside, hair only half cut. Based on the strength of the energy aura, it was obvious that Yusuke was in the presence of a Class S wind master.

"Urameshi! What are you doing? We need to get underground!" Kuwabara stuck his head out the window and shouted, all the while directing servants towards the hallway away from the twister.

Yusuke motioned for him to go back indoors knowing this ki was too strong for a human to withstand. Feeling oddly confident of his abilities, he stood directly in the line of fire, his mazoku aura shielding him from the strong gusts of wind and the smothering dust clouds. When the tornado was mere meters from colliding with him, Yusuke let out an eruption of powers, effectively blasting it apart and exposing the demons within.

Even though he could not see clearly through the flying debris, Yusuke could pinpoint the exact location of the wind master and the three demons that accompanied him based on their energy signatures. All four of them were Class S demons. Yusuke knew that powerful demons such as these were few and far between and could not fathom why they are here in Tourin. Unless — fingers crossed — his old man's buddies had finally decided to make an appearance.

Once the debris settled, Yusuke was finally able to make out the silhouettes of his visitors. One in particular was walking faster than the others, practically skipping his way towards Yusuke.

"Aww, you ruined my grand entrance!" The demon pouted, biting his lips with his pointy canines and throwing his arms up in the air in show of mock disappointment. While not very tall in stature, the demon was clearly proud of his muscular physique and showed it off in a revealing toga. Peeking out from the center of his thick, shoulder-length hair is a small horn.

Grinning at the unusual at the opening line, Yusuke gesture at the path of destruction left by the cyclone. "Nah, that looked like a fun way to travel." He had a hunch that he was going to get along with this red-haired demon.

"That energy blast you made just now was pretty cool too, Yusuke!" Reacting to the small look of surprise that must have shown on Yusuke's face when his name was used, the demon quickly offered an explanation. "Master Genkai told me all about you!"

"Master who?" The mention of this Master Gen-something person dispelled all hopes of these demons being Raizen's old sparring buddies.

"Master Genkai is a spirit energy master that we live and train with in ningenkai," A short but serious looking demon answered, stepping forward. This one had slicked back grey-blue hair with four stiff strands of green jutting forward and to the left, partially covering one eye. "I'm Touya. This is Jin, the wind master."

"I was so excited I forgot to make introductions!" The red-headed demon grinned sheepishly then gestured to a tall, muscular demon with a blue mohawk that reeked of alcohol and a spiky blond demon who Yusuke would have mistaken for human if not for his strong youki. "That drunkard over there is Chu and that one is Suzuki."

"Yusuke here, but it looks like you already know. This here is Hokushin and Kuwabara," the half-ningen gestured to his two advisers, who have made their way outdoors and were cautiously examining the newcomers. "What did this Master Genkai tell you?"

"Only that you're the new half-human king of Tourin and your stance to protect the human realm." Touya replied. "As soon as we heard about Yomi's latest ploy, we knew we had to join your cause."

"Excuse me, Touya san," Hokushin spoke up. "What exactly is this ploy you are referring to?"

"His biological weapons development program and his intention to use them in both Ningenkai and Makai," the short demon responded, looking more solemn than ever. "This is obviously a big problem for us, as we've been living peacefully in Ningenkai."

As far as Yusuke knew, the only other person who knew about this was Shuichi. Perhaps Shuichi had survived after all and went back to the human realm to gather more help. "Wait, how did Genkai know about this?"

"She received a funny letter!" Jin exclaimed, smiling wide. "It was a little flower with a message written on the petals!"

"No idea who sent the thing," Chu the drunkard said, hardly able to stand without swaying. "But it sure as hell came at the right time."

"Yah! In four days, Yomi will be in the Crystal Desert and he'll be too distracted to stop us," Eyes sparkling with mischief, Jin clasped his hands together and smiled, "Let's go trash that lab!"

* * *

Author's Notes: Hope you enjoyed that! Next chapter, we return to Hiei to see how the whether or not Mukuro have turned into a Bridezilla yet. :D

Oh...this weekend's going to be busy so I probably won't be able to update until Tuesday or Wednesday next week. :(

Suggestions and ideas always appreciated!


	13. Chapter 13

Thank you once again TheNotSoNiceLibrarian and KyoHana for your reviews and support! I hope this chapter lives up to your expectations as well!

Thank you as well to all those who are following this story or added it to favorites. The show of support has been tremendous for a first time writer such as myself.

This chapter, we head to the Crystal Desert to hang out with Hiei! He's gonna fill us in on what's been happening in Alaric and Gandara while Yusuke was suffering from severe angst.

* * *

Hiei despised sand. The coarse granules stuck to him like flies to a corpse, ending up in his cloak, his hair, his boots, and even in his ear. It doesn't matter that this particular sand shimmers beautifully in the moonlight or that every speck is a perfect white iridescent crystal. As long as they continue to find their way onto his clothing, his scabbard, and his person, he had no eyes for their beauty.

To make matters worse, he'd been stuck in the Crystal Desert for four whole days in preparation for the royal wedding to be held later that very evening. Never in his most disturbing nightmares had Hiei ever thought he would _attend_ a wedding, let alone help _organize_ one. Initially, he was only supposed to be in charge of security, but Mukuro had asked him to give her away to Yomi, a request Hiei had begrudgingly accepted, only because he felt that Mukuro shared a similar past to his own.

So far, security had been a relatively easy task. Being situated in the middle of the desert made spotting threats from afar effortless. He had teams of soldiers patrolling both within and beyond the camp, returning to Hiei's tent for a report every two hours. Until now, there has been no incidents that made him miss the full force of his army, most of which were with Shigure back in Alaric, watching over their dissenting lords, who have been grumbling quite vehemently about the upcoming union. Hiei could understand why the were reacting in anger, but they didn't know Mukuro's true intentions either. They would soon come to appreciate their King's sacrifice.

The campsite itself was divided into 3 sections: the green tents of the Gandaran side, the purple tents of the Alarican side, and the white tents of the ceremonial area. A path of white cloth cut through the Gandaran and Alarican sides symbolically leading into a white seating and dining pavilion. Beyond, a white ritual yurt had been constructed at a distance from the main campsite to provide the newlyweds with some privacy. Those areas are not to be used until tonight's ceremony, and even Hiei's patrols could only skirt along the perimeters.

As part of their negotiations with Gandara, Mukuro had agreed to let Yomi handle the ceremonial venue, as a result, neither her or Hiei have yet to step foot into the white tents. Not comfortable with ceding too much control, Mukuro had seized supervision of all event catering. Secretly, Hiei wondered if his King was anxious of another poisoning attempt. Even though they were soon to be man and wife, Mukuro was clearly keeping her guard up. Both Kings agreed that Hiei would be in charge of patrols, but with the caveat that he would provide both of them with daily updates.

Of course, their negotiation did not dwell only on such frivolous matters as a wedding ceremony. Mukuro had refused to relinquish her title as King, stating that since her and Yomi are equal partners, they should carry the same title. Yomi had assented to this but countered that as equal partners, neither King should have the right to name an heir without the other's approval, hence Hiei was disinherited as Mukuro's successor. Mukuro followed up with the problem of authority and proposed that the new joint kingdom be ruled by a committee of the two kings and their seconds. This was also met with Yomi's consent but not before he set some ground rules for autonomous decision making.

While Hiei was always present as Mukuro's second throughout negotiations, Yomi had negotiated alone. Not once did the Youko Kurama make an appearance. Neither had he shown up in the campgrounds for the ceremony. Regardless, it was evident that the king of Gandara both respected and was possessive of the fox. While Kurama had only mentioned Yomi once in all the time Hiei had known him, Yomi can't seem to stop referencing the fox during their negotiations. Sometimes he would directly quote the fox, making mention of his political philosophies and his dreams of a united Makai. At other times, he would make snide remarks about the fox belonging to him, as if he was resentful of Mukuro's past relationship with the youko. Hiei found the behavior rather childish and in direct contradiction to Yomi's otherwise patient, unflappable, and calculated persona.

Regardless of how Yomi projected himself, the negotiation sessions left Hiei with the impression that Yomi was like a giddy ningen child who felt he had behaved perfectly throughout the year, and can now barely contain his excitement for the present he was certain he would soon receive now that it was the night before Christmas.

Once all the administrative decisions were made, the final awkward topic of mating, a matter that both Kings had shied from discussing, was addressed. Yomi admitted quite frankly that he was not sexually attracted to females, and while he understood they must mate in order for this union to be finalized, they could never be true lovers. Hiei could still remember the way Mukuro snorted then retorted that perhaps Yomi was not attracted to anything besides one very specific youko. She then reassured the Gandaran King that she had no interest in blind goats, and would never take him as a lover either. Having made their stance plain, the two kings agreed that they would only be intimate once, on the night of the mating ritual, and then they would be free to take whomever they wish as lovers. Both were pleased with this compromise, but Mukuro couldn't help but take a little jab at Yomi by reminding him that he had promised to _share_ his fox once in a while.

Possibly as a result of this little joke, the fox have been entirely absent and most likely will not be attending tonight's ceremony. Yomi must be purposely keeping him as far away from Mukuro as possible. Hiei supposed that might as well be, as he did not want to see the lecherous old goat interact with his pet fox.

The patrolling soldiers returned to his tent to report that once again, there was nothing to report. Hiei stepped out of his stuffy tent and looked around the campsite to see servants making last minute preparations for the evening's festivities. At the next tent over, all nine of Raizen's old buddies have gathered to drink, smoke pipes, and reminisce loudly about the old times.

Over a week ago, both Yomi and Mukuro had received letters from Enki, who was acting as spokesperson for all nine of Raizen's sparring partners, requesting an invitation to the union ceremony. He had made it clear that the group of nine demons were interested in aligning themselves to this new alliance. Yomi, who obviously saw the nine powerful demons as his final barrier towards a united Makai, agreed. Mukuro had no objections either, as long as all nine demons stayed on her side of the campsite. Hiei himself had no opinion on the matter, but had secretly wanted to spar with them to test his powers against theirs. Unfortunately, Mukuro had forbidden him from doing so, as any training, no matter how innocent, could be viewed as aggression by the Gandarans.

Making eye contact with Hiei, Enki, the gargantuan red-skinned demon, raised a glass of Makai liquor, gesturing for him to join them. Not moving from where he stood, the jaganshi responded by glaring at the group of demons until they were all aware of his presence. Once he had all of their attention, he gave them all a curt nod of confirmation before disappearing back into his tent. It was time he changed into his formal regalia.

* * *

At long last, it was time for the ceremony. With the guests seated in the white celebration pavilion, Hiei mounted the oversize black stallion that was prepared for this occasion. The first time Hiei saw that animal, he had understood why it must be him who rode it into the ceremony as he was the only one who could ride it unharmed. The fierce animal's mane and tail were nothing but intense orange flames licking at the air.

Riding to Mukuro's tent, Hiei offered his hand to help her atop the fiery horse. Smiling up at him, Mukuro looked uncharacteristically feminine in a deep purple dress of light silk that accentuated her figure. Instead of jewelry, she adorned herself with a leather harness that crossed just below her sternum in between her ample breast. Draped across her back and around her right shoulder was a white cloak emblazoned with the crest of Alaric.

Hiei, also in deep purple, was wearing a form fitting mandarin jacket with black dragons embroidered on top. The jacket flared at the waist to allow movement. Hiei completed the outfit with black silk pants tucked into his favorite black boots and his katana belted on his waist.

Together, they first circled the Alaric side of the campsite, followed by the Gandaran side before riding down the very center, towards the large ceremonial pavilion. They must have made quite a sight. The black horse blended into the night while its fiery mane lit up the two majestic riders, seemingly sailing in the darkness against the magenta evening sky and sparkling crystal ocean. All eyes were on them. Hiei did a quick scan to ensure that all his troops were in place and that the ceremony and festivities would be undisturbed.

Finally reaching the ceremonial tent, Hiei elegantly dismounted. Instead of taking his offered hand, Mukuro swung one leg over the horse and leaped off, her cape fanning out like a peacock's tail behind her. Leading her up to Yomi, who looked very much like a Makai lord with his gemstone-garnished teal cloak atop a tailored brocade jacket and waistcoat of silver silk and teal needle work, Hiei passed her hand to her husband-to-be. Yomi nodded to him in acknowledgement while Mukuro dismissed him with a roll of her eyes.

Hiei quickly made his way around the perimeter of the pavilion to take his seat at one of the banquet tables. At the very front of the structure was a dramatic domed altar held up by elaborately carved marble columns of flowers and foxes. It was backed by a curtain of beaded crystals and flanked on both sides with roses and marble statues. Buzzing within a cascading mosquito net that hung from the center of the dome were thousands of small lightning bugs that lit up the entire altar. While a little gaudy for his taste, Hiei marveled at how Yomi was able to built such a splendid structure in the middle of the desert.

The handsome couple gracefully made their way to the altar. As they took center stage, the guests started chanting:

Women: _We are waiting for the bridegroom to come and claim his bride*_

All: _Hymen Hyenaeia_

Men: _The bridegroom he is coming and we travel at his side_

All: _Hymen Hyenaeia_

Women: _Oh I travel to the grove, to find the one I love_

All: _Hymen Hyenaeia_

Men: _We are coming to the grove we hold our torches high above_

All: _Hymen Hyenaeia_

Women: _The bride she has arrived at the place that was agreed_

All: _Hymen Hyenaeia_

Men: _The bridegroom has arrived at the place that was agreed_

All: _Hymen Hyenaeia_

As soon as the chant was over, both Yomi and Mukuro removed their cloaks and set them aside. Two servants rushed forward to present each of them with new black cloaks of raw silk decorated with symbols from both the Gandaran and Alarican cultures. The two kings took turns fastening the cloaks onto each other's shoulders and then took a sip of wine from the same glass. While it was only a symbolic gesture — they won't be considered truly mated until the mating ritual is complete — the guests cheered in blessing and approval of their union.

As soon as they took their seats, the hall burst into chatter and activity. Servants flooded the pavilions carrying pitchers of Makai spirits and platters of Makai delicacies such as stewed Raróg**, fried tail of the Basilisk**, and blood vine broth. A band started playing a selection of boisterous Makai music which prompted Enki and his friends to burst into song, having apparently downed almost a pitcher of alcohol each.

Not wanting to make conversation, Hiei shot looks of malice at anyone who came close. He looked over at Mukuro to see her making polite prattle with her soon-to-be mate. She did not look particularly excited about the mating ritual to come. Yomi, on the other hand, was impassive and unreadable, betraying no signs of any emotion. He quietly sipped his wine and absently nibbled on some of the dishes. Hiei imagined that he was not even thinking of the upcoming ritual with Mukuro but of faraway aspirations — or even more likely — the fox, wherever he was.

Soon, dessert was served, signalling for Yomi and Mukuro to take the first dance. To Hiei's great surprise, Yomi had no trouble leading the Makai waltz despite his blindness. Mukuro also astonished him by proving herself a capable dancer, flowing on the dance floor like a bird diving effortlessly in the air. The guests ceased their babble to watch the couple glide across the floor and erupted in applause when the dance ended. The two kings made a deep bow and straightened to the clamor of howling and utensils banging on silver wine glasses and plates. Once again, the guests started chanting:

_You've cleared your plate!_

_And now must mate!_

_No room for strife!_

_You're mates for life!***_

It was time for the mating ritual, a very intimate ceremony that was to be held away from the wedding guests.

Yomi acquiesced by leading Mukuro behind the altar to a draped doorway that led to the white ritual yurt. Before she exited the pavilion, Mukuro turned to give Hiei a little wink, her way of reassuring him that all would be well. The howling and clamor did not halt until they finally disappeared behind the drapes.

Hiei got up from his seat. The real carousing begins now.

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

Ok, TheNotSoNiceLibrarian, *now* we get to go trash some labs. :D

Next chapter should be a joint POV chapter with both Hiei and Yusuke. I'm going to try very hard to finish it up by the end of this week, if not, I'm afraid that the next update won't come until mid November as I will be travelling for work in early Nov.

*The wedding chant was taken verbatim from a Pagan processional hymeneal chant.

**Random names of mythical features that sounded nice to me.

***Ugh..I really can't write poems.


	14. Chapter 14

Author's Notes:

Thank you KyoHana and TheNotSoNiceLibarian for your constant support! I'm glad you enjoyed the last chapter! We're nearing the end now though. 3-4 more chapters to go!

* * *

"It's time. The ceremony is now in progress," Touya announced, sounding every bit like a ningen business executive.

"Your Highness, shall we go?" At Yusuke's nod, Hokushin turned to look at the group of eight gathered around him in the Tourinese throne room. "Gentleman, are you ready?"

"You bet we are!" Chu loudly exclaimed, jug of liquor in one raised hand and the other arm draped over Kuwabara's shoulder, possibly for support.

Kuwabara stood in a heroic stance, chest puffed out and arms on his waist. "I, Kuwabara Kazuma, am born ready." Jin grinned in agreement, showing off his ears which have elongated and grown pointy in his excited state. Next to him, Suzuki nodded.

Turning to Setei and Touou, Hokushin lead the chant for creating their ki barrier. The small green bubble once again appeared between them and grew until it enveloped the entire group. "Remember, if we are to stay undetected, we must stay within the boundaries of this barrier. This includes any offensive attacks you may make." Hokushin looked at Yusuke pointedly.

"I know, I know, I won't do it again," Yusuke weakly yielded, recalling how he had shot his spirit gun the last time they were in a ki barrier. Not only was he much stronger and easier to detect now, there was also more at stake. Yomi must not find out that Yusuke had a hand in destroying his lab until all chemical weapons have been disposed of, that was why they choose this exact moment to strike. Yomi would be in the middle of his wedding ceremony now, and possibly too distracted to notice anything amiss.

At Touya's signal, Kuwabara summoned his dimension sword. Everyone's thoughts immediately turned to the coordinates of the Tempest Mountain labs to help the carrot-top pinpoint its location. When he was ready, Kuwabara raised his hands and brought his sword down in one exaggerated motion to cut a portal into the air. Passing through the portal, careful to ensure that they were all encased within the ki barrier, the group found themselves just outside of Yomi's laboratory surrounded by the howling winds that these mountains were known for.

Deciding to take an indirect approach when confronting a potential group of mad scientists with biochemical weapons, the group headed towards the back where there was a half exposed basement and a waste disposal area. Jin summoned his wind barrier to protect the group from any concealed bio-hazardous material. Once again, Kuwabara raised his dimension sword to cut through the thick walls of basement, this time a bit more discretely.

It took Yusuke a few moments for his eyes to adjust to the lack of light upon entering the new portal. When he could finally see, he was astonished to find dozens of soulless eyes widened in shock, reflecting the dim moonlight. The group of creatures had scurried from them as soon as they entered and huddled in a far corner of the dark chamber, softly whimpering and crying. Kuwabara drew out his spirit sword and held it in front of them like a torch. A dozen illuminated faces looked back, emaciated bodies squirming and shielding themselves desperately from the sudden intrusion of light. Yusuke realized with a start that these were humans. Men and women so weak of malnutrition that their skin were mere paper wrappings, their bodies twisted like deformed twigs, marks of torture apparent on their frames. Many were missing limbs. Still others were unable to move without assistance. All looked sick. Yusuke was secretly thankful for Jin's wind barrier, which was still protecting them from any airborne viruses.

"We're here to help," Yusuke whispered in Japanese, language never being his strong suit. Chu translated quietly in English, though Yusuke doubted anyone could understand him with his heavy accent.

Pointing to himself, Kuwabara added, "I'm human too. We're here to get you out of here and destroy this place."

A few of them nodded in understanding.

Glad that some of them understood Japanese, Yusuke asked, "How many of you are here?"

A teenage girl with large brown eyes and unkempt shoulder length hair whispered back, "There are 20 of us in this room. But there are more rooms." Her voice was steady. She had her arms around another girl, stroking her back and comforting her as she spoke.

"Do you know your way around here?"

"I've been to some parts of the main floor."

"Are there guards?"

"Two at night. They make their rounds every half hour."

"Ok, we'll ambush them when they come. Where are the rest?"

"Their sleeping quarters are on the top floor. Ten guards in total."

"And researchers?"

"Twelve."

"I'm Urameshi Yusuke." He was impressed at how collected this girl seemed and the way she held self with dignity despite her circumstances. If she wasn't so sickly, she would probably be quite attractive, but at the moment she simply looked frail.

"Yukimura Keiko."

When the guards came to make their next round, Suzuki and Touya made quick work of them, knocking them unconscious and taking their keys. The group beckoned the humans to stay, explaining that they must disable all the guards before they can roam freely. Using the instructions Keiko offered, the group was able to easily navigate their way to the guards' quarters. Even with the monks and Jin unable to fight due to the concentration required in maintaining the ki and wind barriers, the rest of the group were able to quickly slay the eight remaining guards with little trouble. This was so easy it was making Yusuke uncomfortable.

Quietly moving on to the researcher's quarters, the group was ready to pounce when Touya stopped them. "We need them alive," he explained. "They may be the only ones who can help those sick ningen."

Most likely to the demon monks' dismay, Yusuke barged into the room and flipped on the lights shouting, "Listen up you little shits! We're here to kick your sorry asses. If you promise to cooperate, I'll promise to show some mercy and not bash your face in!"

Startled awake by the rough intrusion, some of the researchers jumped out of their bed while others put their arms up in surrender, still others cowered in their beds, shaking. All but one. This one, a clean-shaven dark hair man with thick rimmed glasses, was slowly making his way towards the group of intruders. He smiled pleasantly and spoke with an air of authority, "Welcome gentlemen. What can a humble group of researchers focused on bettering Makai society do for you?"

"Better society, my ass!" Chu spat, emitting a distinctive ki that stank of distilled Makai spirits. "You've been conducting experiments on humans, infecting them with viruses."

"Ah, in the pursuit of knowledge, one must make certain….sacrifices. Our work will ultimately benefit all of Makai and Ningenkai. We've been making groundbreaking discoveries in vaccinations for previously incurable diseases. Now how is this not bettering society?" The bespectacled man responded, a small smile still on his face.

"Enough of these excuses! I'm drunk, but I'm not stupid! Kidnapping and testing viruses on unsuspecting humans and demons is wrong no matter how you put it!" Chu roared, and charged at the man with a ball of energy in his hand. The demon monks quickly spread themselves out to create a larger ki barrier.

Nimbly grabbing another researcher, the man blocked Chu's attack with the live shield. The unfortunate researcher cried out in pain and languished on the ground as soon as he was released. The bespectacled man replaced his polite smile with a psychotic sneer. With a flourish of aura, he summoned a group of mutated winged insects.

"Kamiya! What do you think you are doing?" a female researcher screamed, covering herself with a blanket. "Are you trying to infect us all?" The insects swarmed at her, easily penetrated her ineffective shield and stung her repeatedly. Other researchers were visibly alarmed by the insects.

"Jin, turn off your wind barrier. We can't have those insects leave this room," Touya warned before concentrating his energy in his palm and blowing into it, freezing the moisture in the air into sharp ice crystals. With a flick of his wrist, he sent the crystals shooting towards the insects, piercing many.

Changing technique, Jin extended his arms outward and spun them rapidly until miniature tornadoes whirled around his fists. He struck at the insects, pulverizing them. Next to him, Kuwabara had turned his spirit sword into a giant spirit flyswatter, dramatically swinging it around to smash the insects. Yusuke, Chu and Suzuki rushed to protect the demon monks, who were defenseless as long as they were holding the ki barrier. But no matter how hard his team was fighting, Kamiya the scientist kept summoning more insects. Yusuke had no choice, he must create a distraction so that Kuwabara could disable the ruthless man. Gathering his mazoku powers around his finger, Yusuke created the biggest spirit gun sphere he had ever forged, a ball of energy almost as wide as he was tall. Behind him, Hokushin shouted, "Your Highness! This barrier will never hold!"

Kamiya laughed shrilly, "Release that, boy, and you'll also free my pets into the surrounding forests." As Yusuke had guessed, years of experience brawling together has provided Kuwabara with a keen sense of the Tourinese king's ploys. The carrot top manipulated his spirit blade into a tracking laser, striking the demented scientist in the arm while he was distracted, severing the limb at the shoulder. Holding his profusely bleeding shoulder, the inhuman ningen screamed, insects no longer appearing in troves. Yusuke retracted his energy, having never intended on firing his spirit gun and leapt over to Kuwabara to give him a high five.

"I will destroy you all!" Kamiya screamed, psychotic sneer wiped cleanly from his face. He picked up his arm and held it against his injured shoulder. With a blast of energy, the injured tissues and muscles started rebuilding themselves before Yusuke eyes, until the arm was readhered back to his shoulder. Kamiya then focused his energy in his fingers, turning them into glowing blue scalpels. In a graceful swipe of his arm that sliced the air, he sent an invisible attack at Touya, who deftly slid around the wave of energy. The bed behind where he once stood was halved.

Clearly angry at missing, the demented scientist reacted in hysteria, randomly slicing the air without regards to who the waves hit. The slashes ripped through the air in all directions. Too slow to dodge the attacks, many of the researchers were struck down. Knowing that ranged attacks were out of the question given their need for concealment, Yusuke parried, swerved, and slid until he was right next to Kamiya to swipe his legs from under him. Catching on just in time, Kamiya leaped backwards and attempted to slice Yusuke with his energy scalpels. The young king parried with a piece of headboard from a destroyed bed, scalpel wave promptly cutting it in half, and in one fluid motion, rotated his arm to slam the remainder of the headboard into Kamiya's chin, sending him flying. The agile scientist did a quick back flip in the air, but before he could land, Chu leapt and slammed him against the wall before pummeling him with his bare fists. By the time Chu exhausted his battle rage, Kamiya's torso was an unrecognizable mess.

Turning to the surviving scientists, Yusuke joked, "alright, who's next?"

* * *

Even after their kings have left for the mating ritual, the wedding guests continued to jubilate. Hiei stood and nodded at eight sentries who have been quietly standing guard in different parts of the pavilion throughout the ceremony. All at once, they started a slow chant, a silver string of energy joining one sentry to another until a ring was formed around the parameter of structure. Together, they raised their volume until the ring formed a canopy over the ceremonial banquet hall and enclosed it. The barrier would allow air and sound to escape, since Yomi had a keen sense of hearing and would quickly know something was amiss if he couldn't hear the celebration. But as long as that barrier was in place, no demon nor its ki would pass.

Though most did not notice, one particular guest, who was still relatively sober, raised from his seat in alarm. The Class A Gandaran lord poised to strike the closest sentry, but before he could, Enki appeared before him, shielding the target. In a flash, Hiei was beside him holding a blade to the lord's throat. "Move again, and you're dead." Hiei threatened. The Gandaran lord nodded, eyes darting, apprehension written on his face.

"Now, now, General Hiei, didn't we agree that there'd be no need for bloodshed?" Enki, who was over twice the height of the forbidden child, said in a respectful tone while flaring his youki. Under any other circumstances, Hiei would have taken that as a challenge, an opportunity to test his skills against Enki, but there was something more important at stake and time was of the essence.

"I cannot have him raise the alarm," Hiei responded coolly, free hand ripping off the ward on his forehead so he could invade the lord's mind with his jagan. A quick scan in the muddled consciousness showed that this demon knew nothing. He was pacified and led silently back to his seat where he was immediately fed more liquor by the serving maids.

By now, the rest of Raizen's old associates have gotten up from their seats. Still masquerading as a bunch of jolly drunks, they mingled with the crowd to isolate the potential threats from the other guests. One by one, the threats were brought before the Hiei, who scanned their thoughts to see what they knew. Those who were innocent of any wrongdoing were freed after their short term memories were wiped. Those who knew of the biochemical weapons research center, or worse still, knew of the plan to deploy the weapons, were detained in the kitchen using Enki's demon barrier. The wait staff made certain that everyone else was too sloshed to take notice.

When they had first arrived at the dessert, the nine powerful friends of Raizen had requested an audience with Mukuro and Yomi separately, claiming they wanted to hear both sides so they could understand where alliance stood. Concluding this as the only way to win the nine demons' support, Yomi and Mukuro swiftly granted the request. As soon as they were left alone with Mukuro, they produced a single white blossom that bore a message. It warned of an unthinkable ploy being hatched by Yomi and urged them to help put an end to it. The message also named Mukuro as a possible ally and someone to trust as far as Yomi was concerned.

None of this was news to Hiei. All along, he and Mukuro had planned to strike at the ceremony, a rare opportunity where the Gandaran lords would be gathered. However, he had not expected to receive any assistance from outside forces. A quick glance at Mukuro showed that she was not surprised at this turn of events. She had been expecting the nine demons, she explained, producing a white blossom of her own with a simple message that said, "Raizen's nine has been notified."

Hiei was quick to surmise who the sender of the messages was. But not being one for many words or for disclosing information, he kept silent. It was obvious that Mukuro knew too, but she did not reveal his identity either. Instead, citing a shortage of time and a concern that a lengthy meeting may raise Yomi's suspicions, she had focused the rest of the discussion on their plan of attack.

Shifting his focus back to the present, Hiei was dismayed that none of the threats they identified tried to put up a fight. He would have welcomed the confrontation, the past few days have been so incredibly monotonous. What's the point of having a youki barrier if he wasn't allowed to flex his ki? Hiei let out a deep sigh and continued his work.

Once Yomi's conspirers have been identified, they were frozen in place by Saizou, an ice apparition, to be dealt with afterwards. Having gained quite a bit of information from invading the enemy's thoughts, Hiei was able to piece together several past events and fit them into a larger picture. For one, the weak soldiers in the Gandaran camps he found at the borders were actually demons capable of telekinesis. They were stationed at the border to infect Alaric and Tourin with incurable viruses at a moment's notice. The fox must have been lurking about to keep an eye on these camps, he had stated plainly that he didn't agree with Yomi's methods. Even now, these soldiers were on standby with instructions to deploy the biochemical agents should this union come to naught, which was also why Mukuro sent two thirds of the barrier creating demons on a separate mission. Secondly, the Tempest Mountain structure that the fox had required his aid to find was in fact the chemical weapons research center. Hiei recalled having to use the scent of Kurama's blood before he could trace its exact location.

Suddenly, these disparate pieces of information came together like lock and key: _the fox himself was infected_.

Hiei was roused from his thoughts with a rambunctious rendition of a well-known Alarican folk song by Enki and his friends. Kouou, Enki's wife nudged Hiei to join in. Uncharacteristically, the normally sullen ki youkai reluctantly sang along. They had better make this loud enough for Mukuro to hear.

* * *

A lone demon was waiting in the forest. She has been quietly watching a small camp of soldiers for the past day. The mission for her team of sixteen was simple: reach each demon's designated mark and when the time is right, neutralize the threat with his barrier. Conducting a final check of the height and angle of the moon, the demon spun into action. She concentrated her energy in her hands and slowly expanded it until it became a dome on the ground. Slowly, she crept towards the camp to encase it within the barrier, but before she could reach it, a circle of purple plants burst forth from the ground, circumscribing the camp and trapping the demons within.

* * *

Author's Note: It is very likely that the next chapter will contain an explicit and possibly disturbing scene. If that happens, I will either split the chapter into two or make a clear indication of when the disturbing scene begins. I expect it to be difficult to write...and since I'm also travelling for work in the next ten days, I don't think that chapter will be ready until mid-November. A BIG thank you to all of you who have been following along!


	15. Chapter 15

Sorry for the long wait!

While this chapter turned out to be less disturbing and less explicit than I first thought, it still contains one paragraph of a MxMxF threesome. If you don't like that stuff, skip the first paragraph after the second line break.

Thank you once again to the lovely **TheNotSoNiceLiberian** and the lovely **KyoHana**, for your encouragement. We're at the climax now! I've been thinking a lot about how I should execute this chapter and did something quite different than I had originally planned. I hope it answers most questions. While there should still be 1-2 more chapters to wrap things up, I really want to stress how important your constant reviews have been for me. Thank you from the bottom of my heart, truly.

* * *

Yomi could hear his heart thumping. Though he'd always been able to hear it, he had learned to disregard it over time. Today, however, his heart was hammering in his sensitive ears, as if struggling to escape the confines of his ribcage, that he could not ignore it. To anyone else, it would simply sound like a racing heart beat, but to Yomi, the sound was deafening, like drums playing right next to one's ears. Yomi had only been this excited a handful of times in his life. He was so very close uniting Makai. Once the bothersome chore of mating with Mukuro is over, he would be poised with the army he needs to usurp the simpleton Yusuke's place as King of Tourin. He would rule all Makai with the breathtaking Kurama by his side, centuries worth of effort finally bearing fruit. Together, they would rival Emma or any ningen king in both power, influence, intelligence, and grace. They would be loved and feared at the same time.

That was a vision Kurama had shared with him one night when they were still the leaders of an infamous band of bandits. It was a late spring night after a particularly fruitful heist, and they had celebrated by sharing a jug of fine vintage, lying side by side in a meadow blanketed by nothing but the moonlight. Yomi would never forget how mesmerizing Kurama looked that night, pale skin lit by blazing stars that burned just for him, long silver hair a vast carpet of incandescence on the green grass, golden eyes seeing beyond the heavens, envisioning a future Yomi didn't even have the audacity to dream.

Kurama had described a united Makai where there were no boundaries between territories, where scientific advances would ease all hunger and suffering, a place where any demon, no matter how lowly born, could rise above and make a place for themselves. It would be a paradise so free, so extraordinary, and so magnificent that even the gods would be jealous. Moved by the Utopian vision, Yomi had sworn he would do anything he could to help make it come true.

But alas, things didn't work out that way and there was none to blame but himself. He was never quite worthy of the legendary youko, lacking the cunning, the patience, the intelligence, the discretion, and the discipline of the king of thieves. It was only right that the youko sent an assassin after him, considering he was inadvertently tarnishing their band's reputation and putting Kurama's grand schemes at risk with his recklessness. While recovering from the assassination attempt that took away his sight, he vowed to better himself so he could be a better aid to the fox. He started applying Kurama's lessons, becoming more strategic, building a disciplined force, amassing the wealth he would need to arm them, and ultimately carving out a territory of Makai all to himself.

He had went in search of his beloved fox then, but he was no where to be found. Of course, rumors about the legendary Kurama abound, and Yomi spent many centuries chasing after false leads. When he finally found him again, it was the human Kurama he met, a creature so different both physically and psychologically that he thought he'd been mistaken at first. But one whiff of this creature's sweet aroma had taken him back to that night under the starlight — strands of Kurama's silver hair fluttering in the warm breeze and his heart racing when his hand had accidentally brushed against the youko's — and he knew that this unfamiliar creature was indeed his one and only Kurama.

To his great shock, Kurama had not wanted to return to Makai, had not wanted the power and territory he'd once craved, and worse of all, had not wanted _him_. He had found the paradise he was searching for, Kurama had explained, and his place was in ningenkai with his human mother. Angry and dejected, Yomi could not fathom how a debt to his ningen mother of seventeen short years could take precedence over the centuries long camaraderie between them. Having taken aeons to find his fox, Yomi was willing to do anything to bring them back together, even something as lowly as poisoning the fox and his family. And it worked. Kurama came back to him and acquiesced by becoming his advisor. While the roles were a little different than he had imagined, it was like the old times again. They would play out various scenarios as if the ambitious goal of a united Makai was a game of chess. They would spend countless hours in his study discussing strategies and political maneuvers while sharing bottles of vintage from the same year as the one they had shared once long ago. They would create and debate elaborate plans for manipulating Raizen and his half-ningen son, for winning the favor of the Tourinese people, for waging a psychological battle against Mukuro, for weakening her standing among her army. In the end, Mukuro proved a big hurdle to overcome, and Yomi reluctantly agreed to his fox's scheme of travelling to Alaric to earn her trust.

In retrospect, sending Kurama to Mukuro had been a wise choice, no matter how averse he initially was to the idea. The very thought of his fox seducing an enemy irked him, and he had taken out his frustration on the poor thing when he returned. It had hurt the Gandaran king too much to smell Mukuro's lingering scent on Kurama. Yomi imagined the fox must have sang phrases of Gandaran culture in between whispering sweet nothings in Mukuro's ears and pleasing her physically with his limber body. No matter how well-intentioned, it was not a pleasing image. Well, at the very least, he received this favorable outcome for his sacrifice.

He led Mukuro into the ritual yurt, leaving the sounds and smells of the jovial celebration behind them. Although he was unable to enjoy its splendor, he had made certain that the circular room would be decorated lavishly. Lush hand-made rugs of intricate patterns covered the floor, imported Moroccan candle lanterns casting haunting shadows of dancing candlelight placed strategically throughout the room, plush fabrics of warm red, purple and brown tones hung from the wooden ribs of the roof, and the oversized bed with bedposts of twisted oak branches reaching towards the pointed ceiling placed right in the center of it all. But of course, the icing on the proverbial cake was the devastatingly stunning creature laying atop of the bed. To be sure, Yomi had never had the great fortune to lay eyes on this creature, but thousands of gentle traces of soft skin and hundreds of tender caresses have painted a vivid picture in his head.

Mukuro interrupted his thoughts, "Who is that?" She was clearly gesturing to the lovely creature who was now stirring on the bed. Such a tactless and disgraceful woman.

"Pardon my oversight, I'd forgotten that you've not met before. Youko Kurama, in his ningen form." Yomi climbed onto the bed to help his fox up. He could hear him panting and softly moaning, the poor thing was in pain. Unnatural heat rolled off his skin like an untamed fire. He gently dabbed the beads of sweat from Kurama's brow.

"Hmph, that fox sure is full of surprises," Mukuro huffed, focus trained on the fox. "What's wrong with him?"

"He is in need of his monthly nourishment." It had been just over a month since Kurama had received his last dosage. Unsurprisingly, the fox had concocted an antidote of his own, and sneaked back into the human realm to cure his ningen family. Yomi had never doubted his fox's ability to overcome the odds, his vast intelligence was what transcended the fox from being merely beautiful to absolutely captivating. But while his antidote stopped his own virus from spreading within his body, he didn't realize that Yomi had added an extra complication. To truly deactivate the disease, Kurama needed the nourishment of his blood regularly for three weeks. It was Yomi's way of guaranteeing a monthly visit from his clever fox.

Lifting Kurama so that he rested against his chest, Yomi bit lightly at his wrist to allow a trickle of blood to flow and encouraged the fox to lap at it. With his free hand, Yomi stroked the ravishing redhead's face, "There, there, love, you'll feel better soon."

Yomi knew Mukuro was watching, he could feel her eyes on them but he didn't care. Right now, his priority was his fox. Kurama have been suffering for too long. Yomi had him brought back from ningenka especially for this night and have kept him in custody by purposely withholding his blood.

Slowly, Kurama's breathing became deeper and more even. Green eyes must have fluttered open and a pair of delicate hands grabbed onto his wrist, sucking and biting at the wound. Yomi drew his hand away, wanting to keep the fox weak enough to control. Kurama gave a small whimper at the loss, sighed deeply, possibly taking a moment to adjust his emotions, then resolutely pushed himself up. Seeing Mukuro and Yomi together in such an elaborate tent, Kurama must have deduced their purpose. "I apologize, King Mukuro, for my pitiful state. I shall leave you to continue with your ritual."

"No need to be so formal, my dear," Mukuro responded. Yomi flinched inwardly at the term of endearment but did not allow the feeling to register on his face. It is a small price to pay on his road to a united Makai. Besides, it was through Kurama's encouragement that made this union possible and he had promised Mukuro he would share, after all. It would only be once, he reminded himself, steeling himself for what he was about to do.

Kurama started to lift himself from the bed but Yomi grabbed his slender arm, "Stay, fox. This is your night as much as it is ours." They would soon rule over two thirds of Makai and this was a cause for celebration. He slid a hand under the thin robe that the fox was wearing and caressed the soft skin beneath. Regrettably, in order for the mating ritual to succeed, both partners must first find their release, but Yomi wanted no part in pleasuring Mukuro. The fox would have to do that for him. "Stay, fox. Let Mukuro enjoy your exquisite human form."

Turning to face Mukuro, who was still standing near the entrance of the Yurt, Yomi asked, "or would you prefer the handsome youko form?"

"I'll have a taste of both, thank you," Mukuro replied, finally stepping towards them and sitting onto the bed.

Gathering the fox into his arm, Yomi placed tender kisses on to his beautiful neck before whispering into Kurama's ear, "dear, won't you use your talented mouth to please my new wife?"

* * *

Some things in life could never be adequately described with words. Being buried deep within his beloved silver fox was one such thing. Every passionate thrust forward pushed the love of his life deeper into Mukuro, eliciting moans of pleasure from all three of them. Nothing else mattered. All Yomi cared about was entering and reentering his fox, their bodies throbbing and entwined. Nothing else existed; only pleasure. Yomi was driven into a state of hypnosis by the melody of their lovemaking and the aroma of Kurama's intimacy. His thrusts took on a frantic rhythm. He reached and cupped one hand over the fox mouth, bending that lithe body backwards into an arch. In the heat of passion, Kurama bared his teeth and then bit into his hand, drawing a trickle of blood. Possibly realizing his mistake, the fox started lapping at the small wound, licking it clean. That sensation drove Yomi to the point of no return. A primal feeling began building within him and was soon radiating throughout his entire body. He grabbed Kurama by his fluffy tail and held him tight to spew his essence deep into his fox. No matter how many times he spilt his seed into his fox, it always felt like the first time.

For a short ten seconds, his mind was completely blank, and then a moment of clarity arose. It was time for the ritual. His fox was still interlaced with Mukuro even though she'd already found her release.

He angled his head to sink his teeth into Mukuro's neck, ready to taste her blood and injecting his youki while she did the same to him. All the while, he kept his senses trained on the beautiful youko, and in his mind's eye he could see the fox's fine silver hair cascading over his shoulders and swaying to his graceful thrusting, sweaty body glistening from the flicker of lights casted by the Moroccan lanterns. His soft moaning music to his ears. Of course, Yomi would much rather mark him than the woman, but this sacrifice would be small in the grand scheme of things. Besides, once he had her territory, Yomi could easily gain control of her by infecting her with his viruses. That will come later. For now, his guests were waiting for their return to confirm their union with newly marked bodies. Loud boisterous singing could be heard from the celebration pavilion, a common Alarican folk song. Not wanting to delay the act any further, he sank his teeth into Mukuro, tasting the coppery liquid that weeped out of the wound, while she did the same. Before he started injecting his youki, however, Mukuro bit harder, deeper than was necessary. With a gush of blood and excessive force she pulled from him, ripping muscles and tendons. Quickly, he withdrew from her, hand on the bleeding wound, letting a surprised expression form on his face.

Before he could utter a word, Yomi heard and felt an eruption of ki so strong that his skin tingled. Underfoot, he felt a slight rumble. _Yusuke._ Judging by the time it took for the initial blast of ki to reverberate to the Crystal Dessert, the pesky half-ningen king was quite a distance away and was not a threat, but his powers were alarming. Yomi could feel Mukuro tense up and straighten at the vibrations while Kurama relaxed and redressed. Something was not right, there was a heavy feeling of tension in the air, the fox was too calm, Mukuro too alarmed.

The next thing he knew, Mukuro leapt from the bed and was flaring her youki, the smell of her bloodlust permeated the small yurt. "It's time to end this charade," she remarked, her energy causing the ceiling hangings to whip wildly about.

Instinctively, Yomi flared his ki, frowning at Mukuro's sudden change in demeanor. Still standing near the bed, the silly fox silently flared his energy as well, Yomi didn't know what for, his aura was too feeble to be of help due to his weakened state. Inwardly, Yomi chided himself for sharing his fox with Mukuro and celebrating prematurely, he should have known that this union would not come so easily. No matter, he had a back up plan. This was merely one more obstacle to overcome before he could achieve their dreams. "If you truly have the best interests of your citizens in mind, you will submit to me. Otherwise, they would pay dearly for your mistake."

"By pay dearly I assume you mean infected with contagions?" This was clearly a rhetorical question, suggesting to Yomi that Mukuro knew of his plans all along. Bitterly, he realized that this whole affair had been simply a ruse to distract and entrap him. If it wasn't for Mukuro's proposal, he would have set his plan in action weeks ago. Before Yomi had a chance to ponder how she knew, Mukuro attacked with a succession of quick explosive punches.

Yomi laughed heartily. Though he gave her credit for uncovering his plans, this woman clearly did not do any reconnaissance on his abilities! He didn't even need to dodge. Instead, he simply erected his demon energy absorption barrier which deflected the attacks and absorbed its energies to grow larger and stronger. In response, Yomi blasted his youki through the ritual yurt, ripping apart the ceiling and shooting it straight up into the night sky, the signal his troops have been waiting for to spring into action.

"That was quite brash of you. I've always known you to be ruthless, but never expected you to completely disregard the well-being of your people." Yomi clasped his hands behind himself elegantly and sighed exaggeratedly. "I suppose it is too late for regrets now. The contagions are being spread as we speak."

"Are you so naive to think that I haven't taken any precautions of my own?" Mukuro retorted, ki plodding uselessly at his barrier. "By now, my own troops would have confined your pathetic little camps and rendered them useless."

"Actually," Kurama spoke for the first time since this confrontation began, voice even and confident. "They've just been ensnared by my plant barriers. And the burst of Yusuke's youki just now? Well, that was your lab being destroyed. But don't worry about the contagions spreading into Gandara. A dimension controlling demon have sent them to an unknown realm."

"What do you mean?" Yomi's confidence was fading to be rapidly replaced by disbelief. His beloved fox had a hand in this?

"Now this is more like the Yomi I remember. Your calculated persona is simply that, a persona." A swoosh of air signified that the fox swept his hair aside in a melodramatic fashion. Yomi could feel cold golden eyes appraising him. "You've made a grave miscalculation in trusting me."

"How could you?" Yomi whispered under clenched teeth, too numb to react. Just like that, he had been transported back to the day he captured his would be assassin only to learn it was his beloved Kurama who ordered the attempt. He was reliving the anguish he felt then, his heart shattering into a thousand unmendable pieces. All hopes and dreams falling through the pulverized fragments into a deep abyss. "Is this how you repay me after all I've done for you?"

It was Kurama's turn to laugh. His ki fluctuated and a pleasant scent of rose and fresh dew permeated the yurt, in complete contrast with the accusatory tone the fox then spoke in, "How else did you think you would be repaid after experimenting your biochemical weapons on me, holding my mother's well being hostage, and enslaving me? Ah Yomi, are you so deluded to think that I would be thankful?"

Yomi had always known Kurama to be cruel, but this was too much. Yes, he did all that, there was no denying it, but he was doing it to help his fox fulfill his desires. "You wanted a kingdom, and I forged you one. You imagined a united Makai, and I worked to make it a reality. I waited for you all these years, building your dreams while hoping for your return. If I had truly wanted to enslave you, I wouldn't have allowed you to come and go as you pleased. Everything I did, I did it for your sake."

He could feel Kurama narrowing his golden eyes, one hand cupping his chin and glaring at him, judging him, thinking over his words. Couldn't the fox see that everything he has done was done out of his love for him? Time stopped while Yomi waited for the fox to respond, willing him to accept and affirm his love.

Finally, Kurama spoke, "None of that was for me. You did those things for yourself — A simple case of classic introjection, you see. You took your interpretation of my goals and made them your own without truly understanding my intentions. Never once did you ask me what I really wanted. And you expect me to love you for it?"

"My, my, Yomi. I would have never pegged you as a lovesick and delusional fool." Mukuro remarked, taunting him. For a few brief moments, Yomi had completely forgotten her presence. Hell, he'd forgotten that she even existed in the first place. Was it Mukuro who turned his beloved fox against him? Rage rushed through his body, pumping adrenalin into his bloodstream. Yomi could not suffer to be humiliated, least of all in front of Mukuro. He focused his ki on her, and with the force of a thousand heartbreaks, he charged at her firing a barrage of energy blasts at her.

Mukuro blocked the blows with her own ki but the force of the attacks ripped apart the remainder of the yurt, propelling them out into the open dessert. Behind them, he could feel Kurama giving chase, following close behind. The fox was still weak, he knew, and didn't pose much of a threat. And as long as he had his ki barrier in place, Mukuro's energy based attacks would be utterly useless against him. He'd take out Mukuro first before dealing with the rest of her entourage and Kurama.

Yomi redoubled his efforts and again charged at Mukuro, successfully making contact after he increased the tempo of the energy barrage. It had hit Mukuro on the shoulder, enough to stun her for a moment, but not enough to slow her down.

Kurama have caught up to them now, and by the strong scent of roses and plant material, he was wielding his signature rose whip. The fox then began slashing at his energy kekkai with the whip, causing slight tears. If the fox was stronger, his plant based attacks would have been a concern, but Yomi had plenty of energy, and could quickly repair the small tears. Besides, the stupid woman was still attacking him with her energy based attacks, hence feeding and sustaining the barrier.

Kurama shouted for Mukuro to cease her attacks, imploring her to change tactics since they were only strengthening Yomi's defense. She went on the defensive, dodging this way and that like a cockroach that refused to die, leading him back towards the main camp site. As soon as she got there, she raised her ki to destroy parts of the camp, and sent the resulting pieces of sharp debris hurtling towards him using telekinesis while staying beyond Yomi's striking range. Yomi cursed himself for falling right into her trap. Immediately, he shrank his kekkai to reduce its surface area, at once ducking and swerving to avoid as much of the debris as possible.

Out of no where, a youkai flashed next to him slashing a wide gap in his barrier. Yomi turned to confront his new assailant while focusing his ki on the damage. It was a katana welding demon whose energy conjures images of smoke and fire. _Hiei._ Yomi hissed under his breath. Somehow Mukuro had found herself a blade and joined Hiei in attempting to break apart his barrier at close range. Their attacks were coming at lightning speed, and although Yomi continued to counterattack with his own energy blasts, he knew he could not keep up his attacks while maintaining his kekkai. Meanwhile, Kurama had drawn back, clearly conserving his ki for a larger attack. Years of experience fighting alongside him tells Yomi that the fox was up to no good.

He needed to immobilize one of them now. Yomi took a gamble and allowed Mukuro, the stronger foe, to get within striking distance then delivered a concentrated blast of whirling energy to her chest. The attack sent her flying backwards and crashing into one of many sand dunes. Even though that strike only took a quarter of a second to deploy, Hiei took advantage of his distraction to cut crisscross patterns into his barrier, causing parts of it to shatter.

At that very moment, two things happened: Kurama raised his ki and he felt a sharp pang in his hand, the one Kurama had bitten during their lovemaking. The pain immediately spread to the rest of his body, so great that it felt like he was being burned alive from the inside out. His blood turn sluggish, no longer fueling his body. His muscles became rubbery and inflexible. Branches and leaves began to grow out of the wounds at the base of his neck and his hand. He lost control of his ki and could no longer sustain his kekkai.

With a start, Yomi realized that Kurama had planted a seed within him earlier in the evening while he was preoccupied with carnal pleasures. He had lost in the ultimate game of chess. Yomi would never the Queen to Kurama's King, he was not even a Bishop nor a Knight. He had always been simply a pawn, taking the steps that Kurama had planned for him five moves in advance, his destiny beyond his own control. That was his rightful place. He never should have overstepped his bounds. Blinking the tears from his sightless eyes, he trained his senses on the fox, who was now standing right next to him, motioning Hiei to cease his offensive moves. Yomi knew this was the end. But even this betrayal would not lessen his feelings for Kurama. Summoning the remainder of his strength, Yomi whispered to his beloved, "My love, please forgive my foolishness."

Kurama leaned forward to gently kiss his forehead, the overwhelming scent of roses and morning dew once again stirring up the memories of that one unforgettable night centuries ago. The fox softly whispered back, "Apology not accepted."

That was the last thing Yomi heard before his body was engulfed by plants.

* * *

Whew! My longest chapter yet.

I changed things up this chapter and portrayed the climax of this story using Yomi's point of view instead of Kurama's point of view as I had originally planned. (If it was Kurama's point of view, the sex scene would probably be a lot more disturbing). I wanted to show Yomi's side of the story and highlight his motivations. In my mind, I envisioned someone who was absolutely obsessed with the fox, whose feelings for the fox centered around a very insignificant event (from Kurama's point of view...most likely Kurama doesn't even remember that night), while it was a magical evening for Yomi. I'd imagine he would forgive the Kurama no matter how many times he betrayed him because Yomi could rationalize all the hurt away. This chapter was one of the most difficult to write because I had to put myself in the shoes of the villain and then create enough empathy for him so that the last two short paragraphs would deliver a shocking blow. I hope it worked...

Review and feedback would be much appreciated.


	16. Chapter 16

A/N: The first fic is officially done! Thank you thank you thank you for getting this far with me! BIG BIG thanks to my two constant reviewers TheNotSoNiceLibrarian and KyoHana! Thank you as well for those of you who started following along the way!

* * *

"You little prick!" Yusuke practically roared, voice echoing through the halls of his grand fortress, both hands fisting the collar of Kurama's shirt and shaking him viciously. Kurama could almost feel his brain bouncing within his skull. "All this time, you were alive and you let me believe that I killed you? Do you have any idea how messed up I was?"

"While I apologize for the hurt you felt, I refuse to apologize for being the catalyst that awakened your powers and taught you the virtue of patience. Besides, you are wholly responsible for jumping to conclusions regarding my disappearance." Kurama, in his redheaded human form, grabbed onto Yusuke's wrists to still him and for the very first time, allowed his demon fox personality to show momentarily in front of Yusuke. The inadvertent jolt at his comment spoke volumes about the Tourinese King's surprise.

Switching back to his Shuichi persona, the gentle and amiable facade he cultivated for easy navigation through the human realm, Kurama continued, "Please, you underestimate your resilience. Never did I doubted that you would overcome my alleged death and that you would rebound stronger than ever before. I had only your best intentions in mind."

Every word he spoke was true. If Yusuke was to ever succeed and prosper as King of Tourin, there were certain requirements that he had to meet. To Kurama, Yusuke was a bonsai tree that required careful pruning, wiring, and grafting to produce the desired form and proportions among elements. Perfect symmetry is undesirable, especially for a King in a warring era, it's too predictable, too straightlaced. For Yusuke, Kurama has in mind a more dynamic visual balance, with a key focus on asymmetrical shape that suggests movement. He took a quick appraising glance at Yusuke. No, this project was no where near completion, it was still too wild, too overly askewed. The wiring for the next stage of development was already in place, and Kurama simply needed to do what he already does best, wait for nature to take its course.

His only regret was that he did not get to witness the initial changes in the half-ningen king first hand, he had grown rather fond of this pet project after all. In fact, the first thing he did after he recovered from the "Crystal Betrayal", as the incident quickly came to be called - forever solidifying Kurama's ruthless reputation in Makai, was rush back to Tourin to see Yusuke and explain himself to his friend. He had gained access in his youko form, claiming to bear an important message from Gandara. Then as soon as he was in the audience of Yusuke, he revealed himself to be Shuichi, the trusted adviser. After having grieved so long for the supposed death of his friend, and worse still, seemingly by his own hands, Yusuke reacted with incredulity. That was quickly remedied by shape shifting to his human form.

"And all this time, you were Yomi's top advisor? You're the infamous Youko Kurama?" Yusuke let go of Kurama's collar and folded his arms over his chest, scanning him from head to toe, possibly wondering how the hell that slender ningen body manages to hide a seven foot tall demon within. Regardless of his ningen upbringing and his relatively recent introduction to Makai culture, the legend of the King of bandits was so well known in Makai that within weeks of arriving, Yusuke had already heard all the folklore.

"Yes Yusuke. My soul possessed this human body while it was still in its mother's womb. But believe me, I'm no longer the demon I used to be. Please also understand that it was never my intention to hurt you. Every piece of advice I had given you had been genuine and sound. I simply choose not to disclose all the information I knew." Gingerly, Kurama placed a hand on Yusuke's shoulder and turned the irate mazoku king towards him so that they were face to face. Yusuke was not one to stay angry for long. All he needed was some tender coaxing and Kurama knew exactly how to tug at his heartstrings. "Please understand. It was not under my own will that I worked for Yomi. He had my family hostage. He had me poisoned and infected."

As Kurama anticipated, Yusuke's anger morphed into fierce concern. His strong hands grabbed Kurama's forearms and squeezed. Questions and information rapidly spilled out of his mouth like machine gun fire. "What? You were infected too? Do you need the antidote? I imprisoned some of the surviving scientists. They can help you!"

Kurama shook his head and smiled gently, "Not to worry. Remember all those experiments I was conducting? I'd already created an anti-viral cure. In a few more weeks, I will be completely cured."

Relief melted Yusuke's frown and wrinkled forehead. Once again his mood changed as if he was surfing through different emotions, this time pulling Kurama into a suffocating hug and burying his head into Kurama's long red locks. "Shuichi, I'm just glad you're still alive and kicking."

"Am I still welcomed in Tourin then?" Kurama responded with a half-hearted attempt at returning the hug, arms curving only slightly without really touching the young king, and patted Yusuke lightly on the back. Despite his reputation as Makai greatest lover and quick learner, he'd never been quite comfortable with the complicated rituals of human affection.

"Of course you are!" Yusuke pulled away from his hug and true to his seemingly capricious personality, he once again changed demeanor and took on a serious and thoughtful expression. "You know you saved all of Makai, right?"

"I am not so noble. My personal vendetta against Yomi and my concerns for my family's safety just happened to coincide with the well-being of Makai." Youko Kurama was no hero, never had been, never will be. Heros are well loved and worshiped, but as recent events demonstrated, being loved and worshiped by one insufferable demon was already one too many. "Most of Makai thinks that I simply betrayed Yomi and I much prefer that misconception. It adds to my carefully crafted reputation of a ruthless and cunning bandit. It serves to keep all my dens and treasures safe, if you will."

Yusuke gave a shrug that said I-don't-get-you-demons but he did not explicitly express the thought. "Cunning is right. You puppet-mastered the shit out of all of us! How did you do it?" Just like that, the solemn switch within Yusuke was flipped off, and the spirited curiosity switch was on.

"That story is much too long for an exhausted traveler such as myself. There will be plenty of time for that. Right now, however, I have one request to make of you."

"Oh? What's that?"

"I'd like to make a new addition to your royal gardens."

* * *

Sunlight snuck in under the thick canopy of a majestic tree, the last rays of the day bathing all it touched in a warm golden glow. Soon, mother nature would put on one of its grandest shows and the sky would darken into dramatic shades of fuchsia, vermilion, and even hints of violet, cobalt and indigo. The garden hummed in life and activity. Creatures great and small scurried to take advantage of the precious residue of the day's warmth before retiring for the night. All except for one silver haired demon, who was crouching and working at a leisurely pace, humming a Japanese folk song. He was fashioning a slight mound of nutrient-rich earth around the base of the tree.

Kurama sat back on his heels and admired his handiwork. Planted in the midst of the beautifully manicured sea of roses in the royal Tourin garden was a Repenter's Tree, a parasitic plant that merges with a demon, keeping it incapacitated and in a half-life state for as long as its brain is intact. This particular tree took on the characteristics of its host, its trunk the ashen shade of sun-dried coral one finds by the seaside, its wispy branches drooping under the weight of its slender, ink black leaves that tapered to a long point, forming a spacious dome that would serve as sanctuary from the suffocating mid-day heat for centuries to come. The impressive girth of the tree's canopy reflected the age of the demon it contained. As a tree, Yomi was magnificent.

Killing Yomi was never part of the plan, his transgression deserved a punishment far harsher than a simple release from life. Instead, Kurama wanted Yomi to suffer in silence for as long as possible — capable of thought, possessing a stunted sense of hearing and of touch, but never again able to communicate, except for a soft rustle here and a scattering of leaves there. A restrained but indefinite version of sensory deprivation torture.

Scooping some sap from a small collection pan near the base of the tree, Kurama tasted the thick liquid that he would be ingesting regularly for the next month in order to forever rid himself of Yomi's poison. He wrinkled his nose at the sour and biting taste and spoke to the tree, "Nothing is ever easy with you is it, Yomi?"

One of the branches swayed faintly towards him, brushing against a hand.

Kurama sighed.

"I cannot decide if planting you among roses was a final act of kindness or an ultimate display of cruelty on my part." It was a statement and a question at the same time. As long as the Repenter's Tree lived, Yomi would be reminded day and night of his beloved, his traitor, and his incarcerator.

The tree did not respond this time.

"I suppose an answer now would be premature. Not to worry, you will have millenniums to mull that over."

Kurama patted the tree trunk, feeling the texture of the smooth wood on his sensitive palms, studying his new pet for damages caused by the relocation. Finding two tiny scratches on the roots, Kurama focused his ki on the offending blemishes and healed them. The demons who transported the huge tree will certainly get an earful for their carelessness, they'd better hope he never gets his hands on -

Catching himself in the middle of that thought, Kurama's drew his brows together in realization and then released a small chuckle. He'd always been fond of dark humor. Now that Yomi was imprisoned in a tree, he finally gained the affection and love he was never able to receive as a powerful Makai King.

* * *

After the Crystal Betrayal, Alaric was initially in an uproar. From the people's point of view, their proud queen had resorted to contemptible trickery and deceit in order to defeat Yomi. The _how_ had overshadowed the _why_ of the entire operation. With the help of some dissenting lords, the common people organized protest after protest around the castle grounds, ridiculing their queen with insulting chants. Many threatened to desert the country, but Mukuro seemed unfazed by the reaction. Minamino Shuichi, more famously known as Youko Kurama the cutthroat double-crosser, now considered the ultimate villain and orchestrator of the despicable incident, was adviser to King Yusuke in Tourin, thus rendering it even less desirable than Alaric. On the other hand, Gandara have been left in utter chaos due to the power vacuum created after Yomi's disposal. Bands of ambitious demons were fighting to carve out smaller territories for themselves while looting and raping their way through the Gandaran countryside. There was no where else for the common people to go.

Eventually, public opinion readjusted itself thanks to the rumors about infection diseases and mutations that began to filter back to town once the troops returned from chemical cleanup. They spoke of the unimaginable horrors they uncovered within the camps trapped in Youko Kurama's plant barriers, redirecting the focus on the _why_ rather than the _how_.

Settling back in the uneasy peace before the appearance of the fox, Hiei returned to his regular routine of training by himself, training with his troops, napping in trees, and giving update reports to Mukuro. Outwardly, he didn't show any changes, but he had noticed a change in himself.

Before carting off Yomi's conspirers to the Alarican prison — Raizen's old friends had insisted on no bloodshed — everyone involved in the Crystal Betrayal gathered to debrief on the incident. What started as a round table conference quickly degenerated into an interrogation of sorts of Youko Kurama. Having expended a significant portion of his energy on imprisoning Yomi in the Sinner's Tree, the barely clothed and feverish fox — who had reverted back to his ningen form to conserve ki — could not even hold himself in a sitting position. With Mukuro being injured, the duty of holding the fox defaulted to Hiei, who settled for sitting on a bit of half intact debris and had the fox lean against his chest whilst seated on the ground. He raised his ki to warm the shivering redhead, noting that this human form was as lovely and delicate as the kitsune form was handsome and smelled just as good. The fox was too weak to form anything except the tersest statements.

Despite the brevity, Hiei still managed piece together a coherent story of an elaborate multi-phase plan that spanned all of Makai and even included players from the ningen realm. Hiei was impressed by how Kurama took advantage of his dual forms to place himself by Yusuke's side as his key advisor, his impeccable timing at every turn, his ingenious communication method, his control over the dissemination of information both false and true, his ability to gain anyone's trust despite his reputation as Makai's most infamous thief, and his talent for understanding the underlying motivation of others and using that to both control and predict each person's next move. In short, he was a puppeteer playing with mere marionettes; a chess master moving pieces on a checkered board. The fox had even orchestrated the Makai swamp mushroom incident, becoming both Hiei's would-be poisoner and savior on the first day they've ever met. But instead of anger, Hiei was surprised to feel admiration for the fox.

Not too long ago, Hiei would have scorned a creature as treacherous as Kurama. He had only respected pure physical power, believing only in speed and precision, and adamant that clever tricks would never have a place in warfare. But while the Youko was powerful in his own way — he sparred on an almost even level with Mukuro — it was his cunning and deliberate planning that effectively won the day.

Afterwards, when the group's curiosity was finally satiated, Raizen's group immediately departed, determined to melt back into the shadows where they could not be disturbed. Since staying anonymous was not an option for Mukuro and Hiei, they decided to stay in the dessert a couple more days with the ningen Kurama to allow for sufficient recuperation. Mukuro must have caught him stealing glances at the sleeping fox, because she then started to torture him with a blow-by-blow retelling of their copulation in the ceremonial yurt, describing in excruciating details the difference between the ningen body and the youkai body, the creative ways the human body used his tongue, the way the toned demon body moved, the faces each made, the sensation of having that creamy and supple skin pressed against one's body, the cries of —

Hiei couldn't endure the teasing any longer. He detested the heat that was rising to his face. He felt repugnance toward the unfamiliar arousal that stirred within him. Before the first day was over, he had volunteered to immediately escort the prisoners back to Alaric, regardless of how much he loathe such lowly tasks like this. Anything to put some distance between himself and the offending duo.

That was the last he saw of the fox.

* * *

Hiei sat in his room engrossed in the map of Gandara on his rarely used desk. It had been over half a year since the Crystal Incident — as soon as public opinion changed, the word betrayal and all its negative connotations was dropped and replaced by a more neutral word — and Youko Kurama eventually became hailed as a hero of sorts, but the fox himself had not made any public appearances. In the now frequent correspondence with Hokushin and Yusuke, Hiei had learned that the forever-vain fox actually wanted to shy away from the limelight. Most likely, the ningen-demon hybrid had retired to ningenkai.

Anarchy reigned in Gandara. Groups of power hungry demons have started claiming various regions of Gandara for themselves, indiscriminately killing other demons no matter their intentions, destroying key infrastructure and trade routes, enslaving child demons to perform as live shields, daily skirmishes between different groups leaving rotting corpses strewn about the landscape. Refugees started making a mass exodus towards both Alaric and Tourin, arriving by the thousands each day.

It was just as well that Enki once again contacted them, disgusted at the suffering he and his friends had caused inadvertently and offered to help set things right. Both Yusuke and Mukuro have accepted, feeling the strain caused by feeding and housing this large multiplying group of commoners on their countries' economies. So serious was the problem becoming that Mukuro was even contemplating placing a barrier on the border between Alaric and Gandara to curb the influx.

First step of the operation: reconnaissance. Hiei astonished even himself when he volunteered for the role. He had come to understand the importance of knowing one's enemy inside out. With his jagan, stealth, and speed at his disposal, he was clearly the most suitable candidate. How things have changed in just a few short months. Not too long ago, Hiei had scoffed pompously at Mukuro's request of investigating unusual activity on the borders, such chores were considered too lowly for him.

He had spent the morning scanning Gandara with his jagan, sensing the rolling hills, vibrant green against the bloody battlefields; the crystal clear lakes, mirrors dotting the landscape, the final resting place of many youkai that didn't manage to escape Gandara in time; the life providing rivers choked with corpses; the lush jungles, preferred sheltered for zealous power-grabbers, too ignorant to notice their own shortcomings; the blood thirsty bands of demons wiping their swords clean; the storms pummeling the Tempest Mountains, returning the remnants of Yomi's lab to the earth; a loyal and proud group of Yomi's followers and Gandarans guarding the royal castle, protecting the cultural heritage and the treasures within, but time and supplies were running scarce for them.

Here and there, he observed pockets of demons and committed their size, power levels, and locations to memory.

Once that was done, Hiei began reviewing the comprehensive map and marking X's on the points of interest. Gandara was a large territory, and the reconnaissance effort must be divided into several smaller missions. He would need help; Someone who knew the Gandaran terrain, someone powerful and fast enough that he wouldn't need to worry about his or her safety or slowing his speed to accommodate. His thought turned to the demons in the refugee camps. With tens of thousands of candidates to chose from, he would undoubtedly find someone suitable there. He turned to grab his katana when he heard a small unexpected noise.

_Tap tap._

Surveying his sparsely furnished room, Hiei tried to discern where the sound came from. Not a single thing was out of place but he had clearly heard a noise.

_Tap tap._

The sound was coming from the outside of the single window that adorned his room. Determinedly, he strode towards the offending noise that dare disturb his concentration and forced open the rarely used window with a loud creak. In hopped the perfect partner for his mission, smiling casually at the uncertain jaganshi, as if not a single moment had passed since he playfully poked Hiei on the forehead proclaiming that he would be "it".

"Given up on our game of tag?" A silver tail swayed casually and golden eyes gleamed with mischief.

Reconnaissance could wait, right now he had unfinished business with the fox. This time, he swore to himself that he would pin the fox down and claim his prize.

* * *

A/N: That's all folks! Thank you for sticking through til the end of my first fic! Noticed how I purposely left the story open for a possible second installment? :D

I'm now in the planning stages of my next unrelated YYH fic, _The King and the Assassin_, and even created cover art for it (but I can't link to it from here - link is on my profile)! Hope to see you lovely people there when it gets posted.

Thank all for reading!


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